Old friends, and Jealous Dragon Slayers
by laxusXlucyfan
Summary: After Lisanna's return, Lucy was quickly replaced by her. After going solo, two of Lucy's old child hood friends return and join the guild, asking Lucy to be on their team. Natsu can't help but feel jealous of their close relationship. NaXLu LucyXOC
1. Chapter 1

**My first story. PLEASE, go easy on me. I'm new at this. **

Lucy sighed. Once again, she was on a train back to Magnolia, alone. She had been taking a lot of solo missions lately. It had been this way for the past 2 months.

She couldn't complain though, she knew why it was like this.

Lisanna had returned, and the whole guild had been as joyful as ever, if not more.

Lucy couldn't help but feel a little bit lonely. She barely knew Lisanna, and just wasn't as happy as everyone to have her back. To everyone else, besides Wendy, Charle, Gajeel, and Juvia, Lisanna was a supposedly dead friend returning.

To the rest of those, Lisanna was like a new member to a guild. A complete stranger at the moment.

Though Lucy had talked to Lisanna a bit from time to time, she still felt like an outcast when it came to her.

Lisanna was a nice girl, and it was not her fault for her loneliness. Lucy knew this.

So she couldn't complain! Everyone deserved all the time they wanted to be happy about her return. So if it meant she would have to go on solo missions for the rest of her life, then so be it.

Lucy frowned at the memory of her leaving team Natsu. She loved the team with all her heart and soul, but when Lisanna had returned, she had been kicked out.

Lucy shook her head. 'Kicked out' were the wrong words.

She had been silently forgotten. At first it was just a few missions, Lisanna joining them. Then after a while, Lucy had been left behind from some of the missions, till slowly, she had been left behind for all of them. A few weeks ago, Natsu had finally asked.

_"__Hey Lucy, since you know, Lisanna has been going on so many missions with us, and you've been taking a lot of solo missions, how about Lisanna takes your place?" Natsu grinned, completely unaware of how stupid his question was. _

_Lucy's heart felt like breaking. "Take my place?" she asked slowly, a small fake smile pulling at her lips. _

_"Yeah." Natsu nodded. Lisanna, who was standing by Natsu's side, frowned a bit. She looked at Lucy, wondering how she would respond to this sudden question. _

_"It will also give you more time for solo missions and to get stronger." Erza nodded. _

_"That way you don't have to go on so many missions for your rent. Since you barely get any of the award money with us always breaking stuff." Gray added._

_"Aye!" Happy cheered _

_They were all for it. Lucy knew this would make them all happy, and agreed, though in her heart, she was cried silent tears. _

Lucy paused from her thoughts and rose to her feet when the train stopped at Magnolia station. She quickly grabbed her bag and headed towards the exit of the train, and hopped off.

"Home." she smiled, staring up towards the sky. Even though Lucy had been going on solo missions lately and was no longer part of a team, she still enjoyed those moments she was able to return to Fairy Tail.

Plus, she had been gone for a whole week, and wanted to see everyone as soon as she could. Instead of heading towards her apartment to drop of her stuff, Lucy headed straight towards Fairy Tail.

She had gotten stronger in these past 5 months, and oddly enough, felt relieved. She didn't have to depend on the others as much anymore. Sure, she still had to depend on her celestial spirits a bit, but that's normal for a Celestial mage to do.

Lucy ran through town, pulling her bag behind her. From time to time she got a hello from passing townsfolk. Lucy would smile at them and say 'Hi' back before picking her speed up to get to Fairy Tail. Lucy stopped at the entrance of Fairy Tail, smiling up at the large building.

"I'm back." she whispered softly, approaching the two large doors. She used her left hand to open the closest one, then stepped inside, instantly smiling at the sound of the loud guild.

Sadly, no one seemed to notice her enter the room, and continued to chat with one another. Lucy frowned a bit, setting her bag down by the door before going to the bar.

"MIra-san, I'm back." Lucy said with a smile, but frowned when the white haired bar tender didn't seem to notice her greeting, and continued to clean the cups. "Mira-san." Lucy repeated, a little louder.

Mirajane looked up in surprise, smiling at Lucy. "Oh Lucy, I didn't see you there. What can I get you? Are you going on another mission?"

Lucy fell spent. Another mission? She just got back from one though. Had Mira not noticed she had been gone this passed week? No, that can't be. She had told Mira a week ago that she would be leaving… maybe she had forgotten. Lucy felt a tug of pain at her heart, but ignored it.

Lucy forced a smile onto her face, nodding her head. "Water would be nice." she said softly.

Mira turned away from Lucy to grab a glass and fill it with some water, her innocent smile never leaving her face. "Here you are." Mira placed the cup in front of Lucy, which Lucy drank quickly.

"Thanks Mira-san." Lucy nodded, placing the glass towards Mira, who just nodded. "So, how has Lisanna been?" Lucy asked, since she had not seen the other white haired mage in a while.

Mira's smile brightened to a large grin. "She's fine. She was actually talking about going on a mission together, she her, me, and Elfman. Just like old times." Mira chuckled, placing a hand on her cheek, remembering those good old days before Lisanna had disappeared.

Lucy's gaze softened, nodding. "That sounds wonderful Mira. So then… have you seen Natsu and the others lately?"

Mira blinked. "Oh yes, they went on a mission 2 days ago, they should be back in a few days…" Mira paused. "Why aren't you with them Lucy? Oh wait! That's right, you went on a solo mission a week ago. I'm sorry, I forgot all about that." Mira apologized, bowing slightly in apology.

"It's fine." Lucy said softly. She knew it, Mira had forgotten. Lucy wanted to sigh, but held it in.

"How was the mission?" Mira asked, her smile instantly returning.

"It was fine. Though…." Lucy paused, frowning a bit.

"Though, what?" Mira asked, a little worried at Lucy behavior.

"It was just a little…. boring, I suppose." Lucy placed her elbow on the counter, leaning her head against her hand.

"Boring?" Mira questioned, tilting her head.

"Yeah, it just wasn't as fun." Lucy gave Mira a weak smile. "Oh well though, nothing to get upset about." Lucy chuckled sadly, getting up from her seat. "I have to go Mira-san. Thanks for the water." Lucy said, turning to leave.

Mira nodded, watching Lucy go with a frown. Lucy seemed a little lonely lately. Though, now that Mira thought about it, she hadn't been going on missions with team Natsu. Maybe that was the reason. Mira would have to have a chat with Erza when they returned.

Lucy quickly walked over to another table, sighing. "Oh well." she shrugged. She had to stay happy. If Natsu and the others were happy, she would be too. Even if she was lonely. Lucy walked towards Levy, who was talking to Jet and Droy.

"Hey Levy-Chan." Lucy smiled, causing the blue haired mage to look up at her with a smile. "Lu-Chan!" she grinned, patting the chair next to her, motioning for Lucy to join them. Lucy smiled, quickly sitting down.

"How was your mission?" Levy asked. Lucy blinked, slightly surprised that Levy had noticed.

"F-Fine!" she smiled, feeling a little bit better suddenly.

"Thats good." Jet nodded.

"Hey Lucy, did you hear about the new members?" Droy asked with a smile.

"New members?" Lucy asked.

Levy nodded. "They joined a few days after you left. I haven't been able to talk to them yet, but they seem super strong." Levy announced.

"Yeah, super strong." Jet and Droy mumbled, a little jealous.

Lucy tilted her head. "Super strong huh? Where are they?" she asked, interested to meet these new members.

"Over there." Droy answered, pointing over his shoulder towards the other side of the room, where two boys were sitting.

One had spiky red hair that curled and spiked in all different directions, with dark green eyes. He was tall, and looked to be around the age of 18.

While the other had light blue hair that was straight in the front, but spiked up towards the back. With gray eyes that seemed warm and inviting, unlike the other boy who looked like he was itching for a good fight. The blue haired boy was younger then other, and was probably 16 or so.

Lucy blinked, staring at the two intently. Something about them seemed familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Something wrong?" Jet asked, noticing Lucy's look.

"Oh." Lucy blinked. "It's nothing really, I just… feel like a know them from somewhere." Lucy said softly, glancing over at the two boys again.

"Well, then go say hi. Maybe you do." Levy suggested, nudging Lucy's shoulder with her elbow.

"Eh? Well… uh… I guess." Lucy shrugged, rising to her feet. "Be back in a second." Lucy said over her shoulder before making her way to the 2 new boys.

The two didn't seem to notice Lucy as she walked up to their table, smiling nervously.

_Why am I so nervous? _Lucy gulped, raising her hand.

"Um, excuse me." The two looked up in surprise, blinking at Lucy. "H-Hi. I heard your new and wanted to say-" Lucy froze at the sight of the younger boy tearing up, while the other just stared at her in shock. "Ah, I-I'm sorry, did I say something to upset you?" Lucy panicked, not sure why or how she had upset the two.

"L…. Lucy… neechan?" The blue haired boy gasped.

Lucy blinked. They knew her. "Yes, thats my name." Lucy nodded. Lucy yelped in shock as the blue haired boy jumped up from his seat, lunging towards her.

"LUCY-NEECHAN!" he cried, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her close. The boy was only a little smaller than her, height wise, but she could tell he had a lot of strength in his upper arms.

"E-Eh!" Lucy froze in shock, staring over the boys shoulder in surprise. "W-Who-?" the guild paused from what they were doing to stare towards Lucy and the two newbies, all of them looking confused.

The boy's eyes widened. "Ah, sorry!" he blushed, pulling away. "I'm just so happy to see you!" he grinned, grabbing her hand with his.

"Uh…I-I'm sorry I don't-" she paused when she felt someone else take her other hand. She looked to her left to see it was the red haired boy.

_What's going on? Who are these people?_ Lucy thought frantically. Though oddly enough… she felt happy to see them.

"Lucy." the red headed boy said softly. "I… I can't believe it's you. That we actually found you! I told you we would though didn't I?"

Lucy blinked. "Found… me?" Lucy tilted her head, pulling her hands away. "I'm sorry, I don't think I-I… that is to say, I don't know you… do I?" Lucy questioned, causing both boys to freeze.

"You… don't remember us?" the blue haired boy asked?

Both of the boys frowned, stepping away from Lucy. Lucy felt a tingle of quilt for not remembering these two. Lucy examined the two more closely, blinking.

Something in the back of her head screamed at her to run up to these two and hug them, yet she hesitated.

**"We'll find you Lucy! We will! I promise we will, so just wait for us! Once we find you, we'll play together again!"**

**"We won't ever forget you, Lucy-neechan! We'll see you again!" **

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. Wait a minute… these two were…

Memories of Lucy's past came flooding to her.

_At one point in her life, when Lucy's dad had yet to become rich, and here family was still together, Lucy had met two boys. _

_They were brothers and lived next to her. One was her age while the other was 2 years younger than her. _

_The three had become best friends, and did everything together. She treated them like family and loved them both very much. _

_When her father had become rich though, they moved to a large mansion. _

_Before she left, she remembered she was crying saying "I don't want to leave! I love this town! I don't want to leave my friends!" _

_Her mother had tried to comfort her the best she could, but knew she could not change her daughters mind, while her father just ordered her to get into the carriage, saying "You'll like our new house. So get in Lucy."_

_Lucy disagreed, not wanting to leave. Her father had forced her into the carriage, and closed the door, locking it. As the carriage started Lucy could hear two voices calling her name. _

_The two boys had come , not wanting her to leave them. _

_"Lucy!" The red head boy said, running after the carriage, his younger brother trailing behind him. _

_"Kiyo! Ven!" she bawled out the window, wanting to jump out and run to them. _

_"We'll find you Lucy! We will! I promise we will, so just wait for us! Once we find you, we'll play together again!" Kiyo, the eldest brother yelled. _

_"We won't ever forget you, Lucy-neechan! We'll see you again!" Ven yelled behind his brother. _

_After that, Lucy had never seen those boys again. She had tried to mail them, but she had learned they had moved to live with other relatives after their parents had died. So she was never able to see them again._

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts, a small smile appearing on her face. Could it be?

"Oh, we're sorry then. Maybe your not her." The red haired boy said slowly, his voice becoming slightly angered. "Sorry to bother you-" The red haired boy froze when Lucy held on her hand, cupping the side of his face.

"You're…. Kiyo?" Lucy asked softly.

Kiyo's eyes widened in surprise. "You- You do remember!" he gasped.

Lucy nodded, looking towards Ven. "Ven! You've grown so big!" Lucy grinned, causing Ven to tear up once again.

"Lucy-neechan." he said softly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you at first. I-I'm just… so happy to see both of you!" Lucy lunged towards the two wrapping her arms around them.

"Lucy-neechan!" Ven grinned, hugging her back.

Kiyo grinned widely, wrapping his muscular arms around Lucy's slim waist. "I found you." he whispered into her shoulder.

Lucy smiled softly, nodding. "Yeah… you found me."

"I'm not letting you go again, you do realize that, right?" Kiyo smirked, tightening his grip on Lucy and his little brother.

Lucy blinked. "Wait…. do you mean relatively your not letting go or… physically?" Lucy questioned, trying to pull away to find out she couldn't.

"Both!" Kiyo laughed, pulling Lucy away from Ven's grasp so he could lift her in the air and twirl her around.

"Kiyo! Stop that! Let me down!" Lucy yelled, blushing furiously out of embarrassment. Ven laughed as he watched the little scene.

"Lu-chan?" Levy called, being the first of the guild members to step up and ask what was going on. "Do you know them?"

Kiyo slowly brought Lucy down, reluctantly releasing her from his grip.

Lucy nodded. "These two were my childhood friends. Ven, Kiyo, this is Levy." Lucy announced.

"Hello." Ven smiled towards Levy, causing her to smile back.

"Hi." Kiyo nodded back.

"Hello to you both. It's nice to meet some of Lu-chan's old friends!" Levy grinned.

Kiyo and Ven nodded.

"To think though, you joined Fairy Tail." Kiyo laughed, turning towards Lucy.

"Same goes for you." Lucy laughed.

Ven grinned. "Lucy-Neechan, when did you join this guild? Are you part of a team? Want to be apart of ours?"

Lucy chuckled at Ven's quickly asked questions. "I joined Fairy Tail around a year ago." Lucy paused, looking towards the ground. "As for the team, I'm not apart of any team at the moment." Lucy said softly.

Levy frowned. "I thought you were on Natsu's team." she questioned.

"I was, but they wanted Lisanna to be apart of their team instead of me." Lucy laughed sadly. Levy stared at Lucy in shock. When did this happen, and why hadn't Lucy told her about it?

Ven and Kiyo seemed to see Lucy's distress and stepped closer to her.

"Join our team then!" they grinned.

"Eh?" Lucy blinked.

"You can show us the ropes and we can spend a lot of time together." Ven laughed

"Plus, we can show how strong we have gotten over the 8 years." Kiyo grinned, holding up his fist.

Lucy stared at the two for a long time, glancing at Levy, who shrugged.

"I guess… sure!" Lucy grinned.

"All right!" the two boys cheered, jumping up in the air. "It will be just like old time." Kiyo laughed.

"Fighting bad guys and saving people!" Ven nodded.

Lucy laughed at the two. "You guys never change."

"Neither do you, Lucy." Kiyo said softly.

The four began to laugh, but paused when the Master stepped forward.

"Ah I see you two have made some friends." Makarov nodded towards Kiyo and Ven. The two smiled at Lucy and Levy, who smiled back. "What is this about Lucy joining your team though?" Makarov asked, looking towards Lucy.

"Well…. I'm no longer apart of Team Natsu, so they were asking if I could join their team." Lucy announced, running her fingers through her hair nervously.

Makarov nodded. "I did notice you taking a lot of solo missions lately. Very well. Lucy, watch these two now. Make sure they don't get into too much trouble." The older man grinned widely.

"Yes sir!" Lucy smiled. "Come on, lets introduce you two to everyone." Lucy said, grabbing Kiyo and Ven's hands and dragging them towards the others. Levy stayed behind, watching Lucy leave.

"Master." Levy said softly. "I didn't know Lu-Chan wasn't apart of Team Natsu anymore." Levy frowned.

The Master nodded. "Neither did I." After a few second the Master smiled up at the young mage. "Don't fret about it. I'm sure everything will work out in the end." The master assured before turning to go back to his office.

He admit though, this troubled him just a bit. These new members seemed to know Lucy, which wasn't a bad thing, but something about the situation worried him. How would Natsu and the others react when they learn that Lucy has joined another team?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! 25 reviews already! Wow! Thank you all for reviewing my last chapter, it made me really happy to hear all the wonderful things you all said. I hope you enjoy this chapter too! ^_^**

"A celestial mage!" Kiyo and Ven gasped, staring at Lucy in awe.

Lucy flushed red with embarrassment. "Yup." she nodded.

The group was currently sitting at the bar, Mira, Levy, and Bisca joining them in their conversation.

"Thats amazing Lucy, how many keys do you have?" Kiyo asked, placing his elbow on the table and leaning against his hand.

"Thirteen. Nine of them are gold keys, and four of them are silver keys." Lucy smiled, holding up her keys to show the two boys.

"Whoa, nine golden keys? That means you only need three more, then you have all the golden keys!" Ven grinned, staring at Lucy with admiration.

Lucy laughed. "I guess so." It was weird, her old team was never this excited when it came to her keys. They just didn't understand how rare golden celestial keys were. There were only 12 in the whole world, and she all ready had 9 of them!

"That's pretty amazing Lucy. How many spirits can you summon at the same time?" Kiyo asked.

"I can summon 2 and still have some magic power left. I can also summon 3 at the same time, but then I wouldn't be able to summon any more and would run out of magical power." Lucy announced.

"Three at a time? I didn't know you were capable of that?" Bisca gasped, staring at Lucy. Levy and Mira also looked at Lucy in shock, unaware of Lucy's new found magical ability.

"Yeah, with the solo missions I've had recently I was able to strength my magic." Lucy explained with a smile.

The group nodded. Levy couldn't help but feel a little bad though. Lucy was one of her best friends, yet Levy barely knew anything that had happened to her in the past few weeks.

After the groups chatted for a bit longer, Lucy yawned. "Well, it's getting late. I think I'll be heading home, I'll see you all tomorrow." Lucy said, rising from her chair.

Kiyo and Ven followed.

"Let us walk you home." they suggested.

Lucy smiled at them, chuckling. "If you insist."

Ven and Kiyo grinned widely, as if accomplishing something big. "All right!" they cheered, grabbing Lucy's hands and running out the door.

"Bye!" Lucy laughed over her shoulder at Levy, Bisca, and Mira.

The three girls watched the two newbies and their blond headed celestial mage run out the door before turning back to continue their conversation.

"Did you two know Lu-Chan isn't apart of team Natsu anymore?" Levy asked softly, wanting to see if she had been the last one to know this fact.

"She's not apart of Team Natsu anymore? When did this happen?" Bisca gasped.

"I had noticed that Lucy had been going on a lot of Solo missions lately, but I didn't think she had left Natsu's team. I wonder what happened." Mira held her chin in thought, trying to remember any difference in behavior from Lucy in the past couple days.

"She just joined Kiyo and Ven's team before we came over here." Levy added.

Mira nodded, wondering how the others would react to that. Lucy had been apart of Team Natsu for so long, it just didn't feel right that she was not longer apart of that team.

"Kiyo and Ven seem like nice boys… Lucy seems to like them a lot." Bisca said thoughtfully.

Levy nodded. "I know. I just can't help but worry… I mean, when Natsu gets back. How will he react?"

Bisca and Mira looked at each other, then back at Levy.

"That's a good question." they nodded.

**-Lucy, Ven, and Kiyo-**

"Careful Lucy." Kiyo warned as Lucy walked on the side of the river, her arms held out to keep her balance. The three walked together besides the river, headed towards Lucy's apartment.

Lucy laughed over her shoulder at him. "I'm fine Kiyo, don't worry so much."

Kiyo flinched. "Is it wrong for me to worry?" He said stiffly, folding his arms.

"No, but you should worry less." Lucy smirked.

"What does that mean? I only told you once to be careful!" Kiyo yelled angrily, causing Lucy and Ven to laugh.

Lucy hopped off the railing of the river and stared up at her apartment building. "Here we are." Lucy said.

"Nice place." Kiyo nodded, momentarily forgetting his anger to stare up at the building.

"It's very nice Lucy-neechan." Ven smiled.

"Would you two like to come in for a bit?" Lucy asked.

The two boys nodded and quickly entered the building. Kiyo paused at the entrance, holding the door open for Lucy.

"Madam." he said bowing towards.

Lucy covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Why thank you sir." Lucy said softly, bowing back. Ven laughed at them.

"You two are like an old married couple." he said.

The two blushed, turning towards him. "Are not!" they yelled together, charging towards the younger boy, who quickly fled up the stairs yelling, "Are too!" The three laughed, as if not ever being separated for 10 years.

Once they all reached Lucy's apartment, Lucy unlocked the door and let them in. The two boys entered the room, staring around in awe.

"Well… Your taste never changed." Kiyo chuckled, causing Lucy to flush red.

"What does that mean?" she pouted.

"Nothing, nothing." Kiyo joked, smirking at Lucy.

Ven laughed once more, circling the room. "I really like your room Lucy-neechan." he smiled over his shoulder.

"Thanks Ven. Oh, by the way, where are you two staying at?" Lucy asked, wondering where the two were living.

"At the guild." Kiyo answered, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"The guild?" Lucy gasped.

"We haven't found a place yet, and we have no money. So the Master said we could chill at the guild for a while till we get enough money to get an apartment." Kiyo explained. Ven nodded.

Lucy stared at the two in shock. "NO!" she yelled, causing the two to jump in surprise.

"No?" Ven questioned.

"I won't allow it! You're not staying at the guild anymore." Lucy declared.

"Uh… then where do you expect us to live?" Kiyo asked slowly.

Lucy paused, thinking over her thoughts once more. "With me." she nodded slowly.

"You?" Ven and Kiyo asked together, staring at Lucy in shock.

Lucy grinned, nodding. "You guys can stay with me! It will be just like a sleepover, just like how we used to when we were little."

Ven and Kiyo stared at Lucy for a long time. She really hadn't changed in the passed 10 years. She was still as kind, beautiful, and charing as she was when they were little.

"We don't want to impose." Kiyo muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Not at all, I would really like it if you guys lived with me for a while. Just… don't break anything or go through my stuff without permission." Lucy sighed, instantly thinking of her old team.

Old team… She honestly had never thought she would say those words.

"You sure?" Kiyo asked once more, staring at Lucy suspiciously.

"Yes, of course!" Lucy laughed. "Here, let me get some extra blankets and pillows then I'll make dinner." Lucy grinned, rushing towards the closet.

Kiyo and Ven looked at each other, both shrugging. It was only for a few days, and they honestly liked the idea of being closer to Lucy.

Once the blankets and pillows were placed on the couch Lucy raced to get dinner ready.

"You don't have to cook for us Lucy-neechan." Ven called to Lucy from his current spot at the table. Lucy oddly enough had a lot of chairs for living on her own. Maybe she guests often.

"It's fine." Lucy assured. "I'm use to making dinner for more then just me anyway."

"Is that why you have so many chairs?" Kiyo asked, leaning back on his own.

"Sort of have to. They usually would come in without permission anyway, so might as well give them a place to sit." Lucy sighed to herself.

"Who?" Ven and Kiyo asked, suddenly interested in Lucy's mysterious guests that seemed to visit constantly and without permission.

"My old… team." Lucy paused from her sentence, feeling suddenly very sad.

Kiyo seemed to see Lucy distress and frowned, but didn't push the subject. Ven had the same thoughts and kept his mouth closed.

Once dinner was ready and on the table Lucy grinned.

"Done!" she cheered, sitting down between Ven and Kiyo, handing them both plates.

"Beek stew! You remembered." Ven gasped.

"It was your favorite when we were little. I didn't know if it had changed or not so I made it just in case." Lucy smiled, grabbing the large ladle to make herself a bowl. Kiyo beat her to it though, grinning like a mad man.

He stole Lucy's bowl from her grip, causing Lucy to pout at him. "Give me back me bowl… and the ladle!"

"Don't want you to burn yourself." Kiyo teased, sticking the ladle into the soup and pouring some into Lucy's bowl.

"I can take care of myself Kiyo!" Lucy whined, carefully taking the steaming bowl out of the older boys grip.

Kiyo smirked, quickly making himself a bowl and handing the ladle to his younger brother.

Lucy blew on her soup a bit, letting it cool. "Honestly, you never change Kiyo." Lucy said, sticking the spoon in her mouth.

"Is that a bad thing." Kiyo asked, sticking his own spoon in his mouth.

"It's hot." Lucy and Ven deadpanned, but were a little to late.

Kiyo jumped up from his seat, spitting the spoon out his mouth and yelling "HOT!"

"Told you." Lucy sighed as she watched Kiyo run around the room his mouth hanging open and his hands fanning cold air into his mouth.

"Kiyo-Niisan, catch!" Ven called, throwing a full glass of water towards his brother.

Lucy's eyes widened in horror. The water could easily spill out from the cup and the way Kiyo was standing he wouldn't be able to catch the glass, and it would break on the floor.

Lucy was about to run out and try to catch the glass but froze when the glass neatly floated over to Kiyo, who was hopping up and down.

"Thanks… Ven…." Kiyo said quickly taking the floating glass into his hands and chugging it down.

Ven grinned at his brother, while Lucy just stared in shock.

Did Ven use his magic to do that just now?

"Ven, what was that?" Lucy asked softly, turning towards the younger boy.

"Oh, right! You don't know about my magic." Ven said. Lucy nodded.

"Don't tell her!" Kiyo said quickly.

Lucy flinched, glaring at Kiyo. "Why not?" she demanded, folding her arms.

"Cause, I don't want you to see what our magic is till we go on a mission or something." Kiyo muttered, avoiding Lucy's gaze.

Lucy looked at Ven, who just shrugged but didn't disagree with his brother.

Lucy sighed, storming back to the table. "Fine."

"Awe don't be that way Lucy." Kiyo whined, walking back to the table to take his seat. "I just want you to wait is all."

"Yeah, that way he can show off for Lucy-neechan when the time comes." Ven laughed, taking his seat.

Kiyo's face flushed red, glaring at his brother. "T-That's not what I meant!"

"Yes it was." Ven smirked back.

Lucy blinked, a small blush creeping on to her face. Show off for her? Lucy quickly stuffed her mouth full of soup, not wanting to say anything embarrassing.

After a while the three had finally calm down and had begun to chat once more.

"Your mother passed away?" Ven asked softly, staring at Lucy in shock and worry.

Lucy nodded. "Four years ago. After a couple years of living with him I just couldn't stand being near my father any more, so I left and joined Fairy Tail." Lucy explained.

Kiyo and Ven nodded slowly. They remembered Lucy's mother. She always seemed so kind, just like Lucy.

Ven didn't wish for Lucy to relive sad memories any longer and decided to ask about Fairy Tail. "What happened after you joined Fairy Tail?" he smiled weakly.

Lucy's expression instantly brightened and she smiled. "I met a boy named Natsu and joined his team." After realizing what she had just said, Lucy frowned.

"Natsu?" Kiyo asked slowly, frowning.

"He's a Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel." Lucy explained.

"The Salamander?" Ven's eyes sparkled with excitement. Kiyo on the other hand scowled, folding his arms.

"Yup." Lucy nodded at Ven. "I joined his team a long with Erza Scarlet, Gray Fullbuster, and Happy."

"Gray and the Titania, thats so cool!" Ven gasped. "That must of made you all the strongest team in Fairy Tail Lucy-neechan."

Lucy nodded. "That's what Mirajane said."

"Happy, who's Happy?" Kiyo questioned, a little bored and annoyed of the topic.

"He's an exceed. He's a blue cat with wings. I'll have to show you him when he returns from his mission with the others." Lucy announced.

"A blue cat with wings." Ven and Kiyo repeated, glancing at each other. Both of them grinned. "We should bring him a fish." They nodded.

"I'm sure he would love that." Lucy laughed.

"But Lucy…" Kiyo paused, his voice getting serious. "Why aren't you apart of the Salamander's team anymore?" Kiyo hissed Natsu's title, all ready angered by the thought of him.

Lucy smiled weakly. "Oh, that… Well, lets just say, they didn't have need of me anymore. An old friend who they had thought had died a few years ago returned, and she ended up taking my place. I had been forgotten by them anyway, so it didn't really matter." Lucy shrugged.

"Of course it matters!" Kiyo yelled, slamming his hands on the table, causing Lucy and Ven to jump in surprise. "They can't just kick you out like that. You were their Nakama weren't you? You can't just say it doesn't matter!'

Lucy flinched, staring up at Kiyo in shock. "I… I guess so…." Lucy whispered, staring down at her hands.

Kiyo flinched, realizing he had hurt Lucy's feelings. "Lucy I… I'm sorry I didn't mean to, to upset you." Kiyo said quickly.

"It's okay actually." Lucy smiled brightly up at Kiyo, causing him to blink in surprise. "If I hadn't been forgotten, I wouldn't have joined your team." Lucy said softly, grabbing Kiyo and Ven's hands. "So I'm happy."

Ven and Kiyo's eyes widened in shock. "Lucy." they said softly.

With out letting the two continue Lucy jumped to her feet. "Well, I'm tired. We should retire for the night." Lucy said picking up the empty bowls and walking towards the kitchen.

Lucy quickly washed the bowls and turned back to the boys, who were standing in the middle of the room, staring at her.

"Well, time for bed, shoo shoo." Lucy said.

"We don't have pajamas." Kiyo said

"Or tooth brushes." Ven added.

Lucy sighed. "Just sleep in the cloths your wearing now I guess, and I can buy you toothbrushes tomorrow."

"We don't want you wasting your money on us!" The two argued.

Lucy smiled at them. "I'm not wasting anything, and just get to sleep." Lucy ordered, pushing the two towards the couch.

Kiyo was on one side while Ven was on the other. Lucy placed the blanket over them, grinning.

"You're like our mom." Ven mumbled softly, his eyes all ready beginning to close from how tired he was.

Lucy chuckled a bit, while Kiyo just blushed.

"Don't say weird things." he scolded his brother, kicking Ven's foot a bit with his. Ven just mumbled something in reply before drifting off into slumber.

"And he's out like a candle." Kiyo and Lucy chuckled softly. Kiyo looked up at Lucy, surprised she was already in her pajamas. When did she change?

"You going to bed?" Kiyo asked.

"In a few minutes, I have to do something first." Lucy said, turning off the lights so that only her desk light was on. Kiyo watched at Lucy walked over to her desk and began to write something down.

"What are you doing?" he called to her in a whisper.

"Writing." she answered over her shoulder. "Now just go to bed."

"Fine, ." Kiyo muttered, turning over so that his back was to Lucy.

Lucy shook her head at the older boy before turning back to her paper. She waited till she heard Kiyo's soft breath, indicating that he too had fallen asleep.

**Dear Mom, **

**You'll never believe what happened today. Remember Kiyo and Ven, my childhood friends? Well I found them today, they had joined Fairy Tail! Can you believe that? I'm so incredible happy right now I can hardly take it. They're a currently staying at my place right now. I couldn't just let them stay at the guild. Kiyo and Ven haven't changed a bit, at least personality wise. Ven is still as sweet and kind as ever, with the rare moments of teasing. Kiyo is still a rash, dim, and loud, with his constant teasing. Both of them are still very kind though. I still am a little sad about leaving Team Natsu, but now that I have Kiyo and Ven, I know I can get over it. I miss you mom, but you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'll be just fine. **

**Signed, **

**Lucy. **

Lucy quietly folded up the paper and placed in in an envelope. She smiled in satisfaction and placed the letter on the table. She would put it in the box in the morning. With out disturbing the two sleeping boys, she crept over to her bed.

Quickly diving under the covers, Lucy looked towards the couch. "Night, Ven, Kiyo." she whispered before falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_"No please, give it back!" The small blond headed girl pleaded, trying to pull her doll away from the older boys grip. _

_The older boy laughed menacingly, holding the doll above his head. The boys two friend laughed as well, pulling at the younger girls hair. _

_"My mom gave that doll to me!" the girl cried, helpless against the three older boys. _

_"Well than you were stupid to bring it outside." One smirked, shoving the girl to the ground. _

_Tears formed in the girls eyes as she stared up at the three. _

_"DON'T BULLY LUCY!" a voice roared in anger. The 4 looked up towards the hill in surprise to see a 8 year old with red hair, glaring at them furiously with a small blue headed 6 year old standing next to him, the same expression one his face._

_"K-Kiyo, Ven." Lucy, who was currently 8 years old, whispered softly, smiling at the sight of them as she stumbled to her feet. _

_The three boys scowled. "Oh, what are you going to do about it?" The one holding Lucy's doll questioned._

_Kiyo stepped forward, standing his ground. "Give it back." he ordered darkly. _

_"Come and get it." the other taunted, shacking the doll a bit. _

_Kiyo rushed forward, instantly punching one of the three boys in the face. _

_"Why you-" the other two hissed, tackling Kiyo to the ground. _

_"Kiyo!" Lucy gasped, rushing forward and jumping on top of one of the boys backs, pulling at his hair. Ven quickly joined the fight, doing the same thing as Lucy, except he was able to tackle one of them to the ground. _

_Kiyo, who was the one who cause most of the damage done to the other three boys, kicked his foot forward, hitting one in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. _

_"I said not to mess with her!" he growled, head butting the other. _

_Ven bit down on one of the boys shoulders enough to make it bleed, causing him to yelp in pain and scramble away. _

_"You're all demons!" They yelled, throwing Lucy's doll to the ground and fleeing towards the town._

_"Yeah you better run!" Kiyo called, snatching up Lucy's doll and dusting it off. "Here you go Lucy." Kiyo smiled, handing the younger girl the doll. _

_Lucy took the doll into her arms, holding it close. "Thank you Kiyo!" she smiled up at him. _

_Kiyo blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his head. "N-No big." he muttered, avoiding Lucy's eye contact. _

_Lucy chuckled, turning towards Ven. "Ven, you were so brave!" she gasped, staring at him. _

_The younger boy giggled, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "You really think that?"_

_Lucy nodded. "You're both my heroes." _

_Ven and Kiyo smiled at the sound of that. _

_"We will always be there to protect you Lucy-neechan." Ven smiled. _

_"Yeah, so don't go anywhere without us." Kiyo scolded, flicking Lucy's forehead. "Cause then we got to find you to save you, and you're small, so it would be hard." Kiyo smirked. _

_Lucy blushed, pouting up at Kiyo. "I'm not that small, and besides, Ven is smaller then me, so it would be harder to find him instead." _

_"I'm not small!" Ven argued. _

_"Are too." Lucy and Kiyo smirked. _

_"Am not!"_

_Lucy giggled. "Thank you both though." she said softly. _

_Kiyo and Ven, who were currently glaring at each other, paused to look at Lucy in surprise. _

_Kiyo smiled. "We'll always come to your rescue Lucy. We won't let anyone treat you badly." he nodded. _

_Ven grinned. "Yeah, they will have to deal with us if they do!"_

_Lucy blinked, smiling. "Promise?" she asked, placing her doll on the ground to hold out her pinkies. _

_Kiyo and Ven nodded. "Promise!" they agreed, wrapping their pinkies around Lucy's. _

**"It's a promise!"**

Lucy eyes slowly opened, the morning sun greeting her instantly.

"A… Dream?" she whispered softly. Lucy smiled. "No… a memory." she nodded.

Lucy turned over to her side, glancing at the couch to see that it was empty, the two boys were gone. Not even thinking, Lucy closed her eyes peacefully, trying to fall back asleep.

After a few seconds Lucy's eyes snapped open in horror at the feeling of 2 pairs of arms wrapped around her. Lucy sat up and flew off the blankets to see Kiyo and Ven sleeping at her sides, both snoring loudly.

"…Why you…" Lucy paused, taking a second look at them. Kiyo and Ven, her two childhood friends she hadn't seen in 10 years. were in her house sleeping in her bed.

Usually she would be ticked off if it was Natsu who had done this, but for some reason, it was the same.

She actually felt very happy to have them so close. Lucy reached down, brushing some of Ven's bangs out of his face. Ven smiled at bit, moving closer to Lucy's body warmth. Lucy sighed, not willing to wake the two up. Luckily, she didn't have to, for Kiyo opened his eyes at the sound of his sigh. His eyes widened in shock and he sat up, staring at Lucy with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry!" he gasped.

"Huh?" Lucy questioned, tilting her head, confused.

"I-I snuck into your bed without permission, please don't be mad." Kiyo explained quickly, bowing his head in apology.

Lucy stared at the red head before her in surprise. Natsu had never apologized for sneaking into her bed before.

Lucy smiled softly. "It's okay Kiyo." she nodded, reaching her hand out to pat his head. "Plus, you're not the only one I see." Lucy giggled, moving her hand from Kiyo's head to Ven's.

Kiyo looked at his brother, frowning.

"Why the little-"

"Hey, don't be mean to him." Lucy scolded.

Kiyo flinched, but nodded.

The red headed adult rose from the bed, stumbling over to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. "I'll make some toast for everyone." Kiyo mumbled over his shoulder as he ran his hand through his spiky red locks.

"Okay." Lucy nodded, shifting her position a bit to turn Ven over. "Ven, Ven." she said softly, shacking the younger boy. Ven mumbled something incoherent in his sleep, shifting a bit to hide his face in the blankets. Lucy chuckled. "Ven, wakey wakey." she tried again, this time poking him in the sides.

Ven giggled a bit in his sleep, unconsciously hitting Lucy's hand away. Lucy poked Ven's sides again, causing the boy's eyes to snap open.

"Aha!" he laughed, letting out a gasp of shock. Lucy's eyes widened as Ven rolled off the bed, hitting the floor below him. A pain filled groan emitted from the blue haired boy below.

"You okay?" Lucy asked softly, stepping off the bed to kneel next to Ven. Ven sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head.

He nodded. "I'm fine." he yawned. Ven let out a small gasp, turning towards Lucy. "Lucy-Neechan did you sleep well?" he asked with a smile. "I'm sorry I snuck into your bed. Y-You just seem so cold and you were shivering, then Kiyo-Niisan snuck into your bed first so I followed." Ven explained quickly, his face turning red with embarrassment and shame.

Lucy was silent, slowly opening her mouth to say something. "Kiyo snuck into my bed first, huh?" she said with a small smirk.

"I-I did not!" Kiyo's voice could be heard from the kitchen.

Lucy chuckled, helping Ven to his feet.

Once the three had eaten breakfast, they headed out towards Fairy Tail, making a quick stop at the store to buy Kiyo and Ven their tooth brushes and toothpaste.

"We'll have to tell the Master we're staying with you, and bring out stuff to your apartment." Kiyo announced as he walked through the streets, placing the tooth brush in his mouth to brush his teeth.

"Are you really brushing your teeth now?" Lucy questioned, noticing that some people had began to stare at Kiyo as he passed.

"I don't want bad breath." Kiyo frowned, though his sentence was muffled since the toothbrush was still inside his mouth.

Ven followed his brothers example and began to brush his teeth too.

Lucy sighed. "Just don't trip. I don't want you two choking on those." Lucy motioned towards the toothbrushes.

"Yes ma'am!" Ven and Kiyo said in unison, smirking a bit when Lucy's face flushed red.

The 3 quickly entered Fairy Tail, some pausing from their conversations to say hi to them. "Lu-chan, Kiyo, Ven!" Levy called to them, motioning for them to come to her table.

The three did as they were told and quickly walked over to the blue headed mage, grinning.

Levy opened her mouth to say what she wanted to say, but paused when she saw recently used toothbrushes is Kiyo and Ven's hands.

"What's with the toothbrushes?" she asked tilting her head.

"For brushing our teeth." Kiyo answered, twirling his toothbrush in his hands. "Smell the minty freshness!" Kiyo exclaimed blew out threw his mouth towards Levy. Levy inhaled a bit, smiling.

"That is very minty fresh." she nodded.

Kiyo nodded as he sat down.

"Yeah, but these weirdos decided to brush their teeth through the city." Lucy sighed.

"I wasn't going to wait till we got home to brush my teeth." Kiyo pouted. "Besides, you know you love the smell." he smirked.

"Do not."

"Do too." Kiyo insisted, blowing a bit of his breath towards Lucy's direction. Lucy covered her nose, refusing to smell.

"Lucy!" Kiyo whined, scooting his seat a little closer to her and trying again. "Just smell my breath."

"I'm not smelling your breath." Lucy yelled, though her voice sounded funny since she was holding her nose.

"It's smells minty fresh." Ven smiled.

"No."

"It really does Lu-chan." Levy giggled.

"No." Lucy said again.

"Smell!" Kiyo said, wrapping his arm around Lucy's shoulders and bringing her closer to him.

"Ah, let go you weirdo!" Lucy laughed jokingly, trying to escape from Kiyo's grip.

"Smell! You know you want to! You can't resist the minty freshness!" Kiyo grinned, wrapping both of his arms around Lucy's waist and placed his head on her shoulder, blowing his breath towards her nose.

"Kiyo!" she whined, placing one hand on top of his, which were around her waist, and the other one the side of his face to push it away.

Levy giggled. "They likeee each other." Levy said softly, imitating Happy. Mirajane instantly appeared, hearts in her eyes.

"Do I sense love?" she whispered to Levy.

Ven, overhearing their conversation glanced at Mira and Levy, then back at Lucy and Kiyo, who were laughing like maniacs.

Ven smiled softly. Lucy-Oneechan and Kiyo-Oniisan being a couple didn't sound to bad to him.

"Kiyo seriously, let me go." Lucy giggled, placing both of her hands on the side of Kiyo's face and squishing them together, causing Kiyo's to have a fish face.

"Lucy." he whined, tightening his grip along her waist.

"Oy! What the hell do you think you're doing!" A angered voice screamed, causing Fairy Tail to freeze.

The attention of everyone in the guild turned to the entrance of Fairy Tail, where a certain ticked off dragon slayer was standing.

Kiyo and Lucy, who were still in each others arms, paused from their little fight to look towards the door.

Five familiar forms stood at the door, staring back at Fairy Tail, some in anger and some in confusion.

Team Natsu had returned.

"…Natsu…" Lucy whispered softly.

**Well, here we are. I hope you all don't mind a cliff hanger. I'll try to update as soon as I can!**


	4. Chapter 4

The guild fell silent as Team Natsu stormed into the room, all eyes falling on the ticked off fire mage.

Lucy flinched a bit at the anger in Natsu's voice. _What was he so mad about? _

Natsu glared back at the rest of the guild members, who quickly turned back to their own conversations. It was best not to mess with an angry Dragon Slayer. Though the guild couldn't help but wonder, what was their pink headed fire mage so mad about?

"Ah, W-Welcome back." Mira chuckled nervously, stepping back a bit when she saw the anger in Natsu's eyes. "How did the mission go?"

"Though there were a few problems at first, the mission was completed successfully." Erza said slowly, glancing at Lucy and Kiyo.

Gray walked over to Mira with Erza, leaning against the counter to stare at Lucy. Though he knew that it was Lucy's privacy and shouldn't question it, he still had to wonder who that red headed guy was. When Team Natsu had entered the guild, the guy had both of his arms wrapped around Lucy's waist and trying to get his face closer to Lucy's. The reason for him doing so was unannounced to Gray, but it still troubled him.

Lucy didn't seem against the guy being so close to her, but still, Gray didn't know this guy and it still worried him a bit.

Lucy, who was still in Kiyo's arms, blinked. Kiyo on the other hand frowned at Natsu, tightening his grip on Lucy.

"Hey, Lucy! We're back!" Happy, who had been hiding behind Natsu's legs, grinned.

"Welcome back Happy." Lucy nodded with a small smile, still a little nervous at the anger filled glare Natsu was sending at Kiyo and her. Happy blinked in confusion, staring up at Lucy in shock. Happy couldn't help but wonder who the guy was next to Lucy, and why he still had his arms around her.

Lisanna stepped next to Natsu, also confused by his actions. "Natsu?" she asked softly.

"Who are you?" Natsu hissed, motioning towards Kiyo, glaring at him.

Kiyo glared back, releasing Lucy just a bit, but still had his arm around her waist. Lucy blushed a bit, but didn't say anything.

"The name is Kiyo." Kiyo announced. "You, must be Natsu. I've heard a little bit about you from Lucy."

"Yeah well I haven't heard a single thing about _you _from Lucy." Natsu said, folding her arms.

Kiyo's left eye brow twitched in annoyance. "I'm an old friend, just reunited with Lucy yesterday. Oh yes thats right, you weren't here for that, were you? You were of on a mission, _without _Lucy."

Natsu visible flinched at Kiyo's tone, gritting his teeth.

"Okay then, boys." Lucy chuckled nervously, pulling away from Kiyo's grip. "Well, uh…. Kiyo how about I introduce you and Ven to everyone since you didn't get to meet them yesterday?" Lucy smiled.

Kiyo nodded while Ven, after hearing his name, bounded over to Lucy with a smile.

"Everyone, these two are Ven and Kiyo. They're are childhood friends of mine." Lucy smiled brightly. "They joined Fairy Tail a couple days ago."

Ven waved a bit while Kiyo shoved his hands in his pockets, a scowl on his face.

"So, this is Erza, Gray, Happy, Lisanna, and Natsu." Lucy continued, pointing to all her friends.

Ven gasped. "Lucy you weren't lying. There really is a talking blue cat!' Ven cheered, staring down at Happy in wonder. Ven reached into his bag, which was slung across his shoulder, and pulled out a medium fish.

Happy eyes grew wide at the sight of the magnificent creature. "I-Is that a fish!" he gasped.

Ven nodded. "I got it for you!"

"And you kept it in your bag?" Lucy questioned softly, sweat dropping.

"Lucy I like your friends!" Happy grinned, greedily taking the fish and munching on it.

Ven giggled, causing Lucy to swoon at his adorableness. "Ven you're so cute!" Lucy cooed, wrapping her arms around Ven's neck to snuggling her face close to his. Ven blushed with embarrassment of being called 'Cute'.

"Uh… how old are you again?" Gray asked, pointing at Ven.

"16, why do you ask?" Ven answered, glancing at Gray.

Gray blinked. "…Nothing." he shrugged.

The answer had come as a bit of a shock to Gray, but he tried his best not to show it. Ven was small for his age and was a little below Gray's shoulder in height. True that his body tone was similar to Natsu's and his own, but it was is child like personality that led Gray to believe that Ven was around the age of 12 or so. I mean, he was smaller then Lucy even!

"Well, it is nice to meet some of Lucy's old friends." Erza said, holding her hand out to Kiyo. Kiyo grabbed her hand without hesitation and nodded in agreement.

"Friends we've never heard about." Natsu muttered, folding her arms.

Lucy, hearing Natsu's comment, frowned. Deciding to ignore it for now, Lucy grinned. "I'm glad you're all back from the mission." Lucy paused, her eyes growing a bit sad. "I bet it was fun."

"Fun isn't the exact word I was looking for." Gray shrugged.

"It was a little hard, and a lot of stuff was destroyed." Lisanna chuckled nervously. Lucy smiled at Lisanna, nodding in understandment.

After a while the two groups sat down at the tables, continuing their conversations. Though Natsu seemed a little on edge for some reason, there was still a lot of laughs.

"I'm glad you three were able to find each other again." Erza smiled.

Kiyo grinned for the first time since Team Natsu had arrived. "Well we made a promise to find each other again." Kiyo wrapped his arm around Lucy's shoulders bringing her into a hug. Lucy chuckled a bit, leaning her head against Kiyo's shoulder.

"He liiiiiikes her." Happy cooed.

Lucy blushed a bit. Since she had not been around Team Natsu recently, she had forgotten about Happy's constant 'He likes her' comment. Kiyo blinked at the blue cat, his face turning a dark shade of red.

'W-What?" he stuttered in shock.

"Ignore him!" Lucy interrupted, covering Kiyo's ears.

The two froze though when Natsu snapped his fork in half. "So what type of magic do you have, if you have any at all?" Natsu glared at Kiyo, who glared back.

"I don't think that's any of your concern, Pinky." Kiyo said in an even tone, staring at Natsu's pink hair. Natsu's eyes flared with anger.

The group fell silent, Erza even a grew a bit nervous at the sudden dark atmosphere.

Both Kiyo and Natsu began to rise to their feet, preparing to fight.

"Natsu can I talk with you for a second?" Lucy yelled in a panic, jumping to her feet and dragging Natsu to the other side of the room. Kiyo, who was shocked by Lucy's reaction, frowned. Sinking back into his seat, Kiyo folded his arms. "…"

Ven glanced at his older brother. "S-So, how long have you known Lucy?" he asked, trying to lighten up the dense mood.

**Lucy and Natsu**

Lucy dragged Natsu to the one of the closets and pushed him inside. "What are you doing?" she demanded, closing the door behind her.

"Nothing," Natsu said stubbornly, folding his arms.

"Oh really?" Lucy folded her arms with a frown. "Then why are you being so mean to Kiyo. He just got here and all you can do is pick a fight with him?" Though Lucy had noticed, Natsu had only been acting this way around Kiyo, not Ven.

"He's the one who started it." Natsu muttered, looking away. He hadn't liked Kiyo from the moment he saw him. The way he had been holding Lucy when they entered the guild, it made him furious. He wasn't sure why though. Not to mention Lucy had been yelling at him to release him, even if it was in a joking tone.

Lucy sighed. "Listen Natsu, Kiyo is important to me." Lucy paused when Natsu looked at her with a slightly hurt expression. "A-And… I don't want you being mean to him." Lucy stuttered the rest, still shocked at the look on Natsu's face.

"Why?" he demanded, his expression growing angry once more. "I'm your best friend, aren't I? You should be supporting me, not scolding me!" Natsu didn't know Kiyo, but felt angry on how Lucy and him were all too chummy. Lucy said she hadn't seen the guy in years, yet she trusted him instantly, even defended him! It just ticked him off.

Lucy flinched, growing a little annoyed herself. "Best friend?" she questioned. Lucy had swore not be angry with Natsu, for it wasn't really his fault that she had been so lonely these past few weeks, so she struggled to hold back her own rage. Lucy looked away from Natsu. "Just…" Lucy fell silent.

"Just what?" Natsu asked sourly.

"Just, don't be mean to him." Lucy said quickly, turning and walking out of the closet.

Once Lucy had left Natsu gritted his teeth in anger. Don't be mean to him? Lucy never had a problem when Gray and him fought, so why was 'Kiyo' so important all of the sudden. Natsu stormed out of the closet, after Lucy.

Lucy walked back to the table and grabbed Kiyo and Ven's arms. "Hey, I think we should go on a mission together." she grinned, causing the boys to stare at her.

"Eh?" Kiyo and Ven blinked, staring up at Lucy in surprise. Lucy's sudden suggestion even caused Erza and Gray to look at her surprise. Lucy had a right to spend as much time as she wanted with Kiyo and Ven, but they couldn't help but want to join Lucy on this mission.

Wait… when was the last time they went on a mission again? Erza felt a small pull of guilt at her heart when she realized she hadn't gone on a mission with Lucy in weeks, let alone talk with her. Gray's feeling were the same, except his guilt soon grew to anger for himself for not having realized this sooner.

"Yeah." she nodded. "Since we haven't seen each other in so long, this could be our chance to see how much stronger we've gotten over the years."

Kiyo and Ven looked at each other, not expecting Lucy to want to go on a mission so soon.

"A mission?" Natsu said slowly, approaching the table. Gray glanced at Natsu as he sat down next to him, glaring at the three, mainly Kiyo.

"Yes Natsu, a mission." Lucy said. "Come on, please?" Lucy turned back to Kiyo and Ven, who nodded.

"Sounds fun." Kiyo grinned.

"Yeah!" Ven agreed.

"Lucy, Lucy, lets all go together." Happy cheered, running up to Lucy, wanting to spend some time with the older celestial mage.

Lucy frowned a bit, flinching at the word 'together'. Now they suddenly wanted to go on a mission with her? "Sorry Happy, but this will be a Team mission only." Lucy announced softly, looking away.

The table fell dead silent, Natsu's eyes widening in … mission?" they all asked slowly. Lisanna looked at her team in confusion. Why did they all look so shocked… and sad?

Lucy avoided her old teams looks. "Yeah. I'm on Kiyo and Ven's team now."

**Anddddd! We'll stop there! Sorry for the delay! **

**Oh yes, before I forget. This is to Pannacotta. **

**You asked in one of your reviews a description of Ven and Kiyo, so here they are!**

**Ven (Age: 16): **As Gray said in this chapter, he is small around the height size 5'5 (almost 5'6), and has a build similar to Natsu's and Gray's. He has light blue hair (sort of like a light ocean blue) that is straight and frames his face in the front, but spikes up in all directions in the back. His eye color is a mix between light gray and blue. It looks most like a gray when it is dark, and more blue when he is in bright lights. He normally wears a short sleeved black shirt (it shows off his muscle a bit ^_^ hehe). His pants (similar to the ones Gray usually wears) are black as well. Ven, much like a chid, is excited very easily. Normally very happy and his eyes are practically sparkling with joy. Only on occasions when his friends are hurt are when his eyes grow dark and fierce. When he his angered his eyes turn to a dark gray. Is always grinning widely though whenever Lucy is near.

**Kiyo (age 18): **Kiyo is 6'1 (tall 0.0) and had very toned body, again like Gray and Natsu's. He had bright red hair that spikes up in all directions around his head. (His hair is sort of like how Loki's is when he is in his spirit form) His bangs are combed neatly towards the right side of his face, stopping just before they cover his eyes. Kiyo has dark green eyes that are always serious, except when he is around is brother or friends. His expression is soft and caring when he is around Lucy though (except when he is teasing her ^_^) Kiyo normally wears a black leather jacket that doesn't completely go down to his waist and wears a white shirt underneath. Also wears long black pants that have a red line going down both pant legs.

**Hope that helped. Can't wait to see the picture ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay everyone, here is my new chapter. I hope you enjoy it! ^_^ **

"What do you mean you're on their team?" Natsu demanded, jumping up from his seat so fast that it caused his wooden chair to fly backwards, almost shattering when it hit the floor.

Lucy's attention did not look towards Natsu, but at her feet. "It's just as I said. I joined their team yesterday."

"When did this happen?" Gray asked, shocked at this sudden announcement. Lucy was on their team, she couldn't just switch! Gray froze… No, Lucy wasn't on their team anymore. They had… They had replaced her with Lisanna. Overwhelming guilt and regret swept into Gray's heart like the wind.

"Like I 'just' said, I joined their team yesterday." Lucy repeated for the second time in the past 2 minutes. "It was while you were all gone on a mission."

"W-What but-" Natsu stammered, but Kiyo interrupted him.

"Yeah, she joined our team yesterday. The whole guild knows this. You all would too… if you _were_ here yesterday. Oh but wait-" Kiyo paused to look at Natsu. "You weren't here yesterday. You were of on a mission, _without_ Lucy." That had been the second time Kiyo had said that to Natsu.

Just like the first time, Natsu flinched.

Lisanna sat in her chair confused. Why was her team getting so upset all of the sudden? It had been their decision to switch herself with Lucy. Maybe they were… regretting that decision? Lisanna frowned a bit, but understood.

Lucy had been on Team Natsu for a long time; at least that is what she heard from Mira-nee. Plus, unlike her team, she had seen the hurt in Lucy's eyes the day she had left Team Natsu.

Though Lisanna wanted to oppose the idea of joining Team Natsu, everyone had insisted she joined; even Lucy had forced a smile for her. So how could she just refuse?

Lisanna wished now that she had. Maybe none of this would be happening. Maybe it would be like this anyway though?

Erza rose from her seat this time, Happy flying by her head. "Lucy." She said sternly, yet her voice was soft. "I did not think you would be joining a new team so quickly." There was a hint of hurt in Erza's voice.

Lucy flinched, but kept strong. "It's been a couple weeks since I left. Did you all just think I would go solo for the rest of my life?"

Erza frowned, gritting her teeth a bit.

"B-But…" Happy stuttered, fumbling to find the right words. For some reason learning that Lucy was on another team made Happy's heart hurt. He didn't like it, not at all.

"You're on our team though Lucy! You can't be on their team!" Natsu yelled in angry, causing most of the guild to pause from their conversations to stare.

Lucy's eyes widened in fury as she whirled around to face Natsu, preparing to scream what was on her mind.

Kiyo stepped in front of her though.

"Oh? From what Lucy told me, you all kicked her out of your team." Kiyo hissed harshly, causing all of team Natsu to step back in shock, small signs of regret and hurt in their eyes.

Lucy flinched at their look, but she hid behind Kiyo so she wouldn't see those hurt filled eyes.

"None of you own her or have the right to tell her which team she can or cannot be on." A rough voice added. Lucy looked up in surprise to see that the voice belongs to Ven.

Ven's look was cold, unlike the soft and caring one Lucy was used too.

"Ven." She whispered softly.

"Lucy is our team mate now, and none of you can have her back. You are the ones who gave her up in the first place." Ven paused at the sight of Lisanna's guilt look.

Lucy also saw this look and stepped to Kiyo's side. "Lisanna." She said softly, avoiding the pleading looks her old team was giving her.

Lisanna looked up in surprised, preparing to be yelled at as well.

"Don't blame yourself, Kay?" Lucy smiled softly. "It's not your fault at all. So don't look so down."

The group paused to stare at Lucy in surprise. The guild had been left speechless, for once coming completely silent. Even though Lisanna had replaced Lucy and took her spot in the team she loved so much, Lucy was still able to smile at her and say such nice words.

"Lucy-neechan." Ven whispered softly staring at Lucy with respect and admiration. Kiyo smiled softly, staring at Lucy with the same look, except his had another feeling. A feeling Lucy couldn't quite put a name to.

Lisanna stared at Lucy for a long time, her eyes shinning with tears that wanted to fall but were not able to. "Lucy." She whispered, slowly nodding.

Lucy smiled, grabbing Kiyo and Ven's hands. "We'll be leaving now." With that, Lucy ran towards the guild doors, dragging Kiyo and Ven behind her.

Natsu held out his hand to stop them, his heart aching. He felt no will to fight anymore that day though, and just watched helplessly as his best friend ran away with her new… team.

The word made Natsu's ears sting and his heart break. He couldn't take it… he hated the sound of it! Just thinking of it made his stomach turn with disgust.

He didn't want to except this! Lucy was apart of his team, she would always be… but…. Natsu frowned. She wasn't right now, was she? That's because, he had kicked her out. Let out behind without a second though of her feelings.

"Natsu?" Lisanna called when Natsu suddenly stormed away from the table, leaving his confused team mates behind. Natsu quickly walked to one of the closets and stepped in side, closing the door behind him.

Once Natsu was alone he gritted his teeth as his vision blurred with tears, but he refused to let any of them fall.

"Oh god…" he whispered. "What have I done?" Natsu collapsed to his knees, the consequences of his decisions smacking him in the face. "Lucy!" he whispered.

**-Lucy, Kiyo,** Ven!-

Kiyo and Ven walked side by side behind their blond childhood friend who had been silent since leaving the guild.

Lucy hands limply swung at her side, a large frown plastered on her face.

"Lucy." Kiyo said softly, causing her to look over her shoulder, forcing a smile on her face. The two boys stared at her, knowing that behind that smile, she was hurting.

"S-Sorry." She stuttered. "It's okay though. I'll be fine, don't worry." Lucy assured them.

The three spoke no more as they quickly got to Lucy's apartment and stepped inside.

"We… forgot our luggage at the guild again." Ven said slowly, taking off his shoes and placing them neatly by the door.

Kiyo wasn't as neat and kicked his shoes in a pile next to Ven's. "We can get them tomorrow." He shrugged, glancing at Lucy who had slowly walked over to her desk without a word.

The atmosphere of the room was a little depressing.

"You said that yesterday, Kiyo-Niisan." Ven muttered, looking at his feet.

Kiyo shrugged again, taking off his leather jacket to place it on the couch. Kiyo stood straight to look towards Lucy once more, watching her take of her boots, not even bothering to put them by the door and let them fall by her table.

"Lucy-"

Lucy interrupted Kiyo by turning around and looking towards Ven. "Say Ven, how about I make you a warm bath?" she asked.

Ven, who had been getting a glass of water, looked up in surprise at the sudden offer. "….Sure." he nodded slowly.

Lucy smiled, rushing passed Kiyo and towards the bathroom.

Kiyo let her pass him without a word.

Once Lucy had disappeared into the bathroom the two boys waited before they heard the water going before looking at each other.  
>"Kiyo-niisan, you should talk with her." Ven said softly.<p>

Kiyo flinched a bit. Encouraging speeches weren't really his thing. "What do you expect me to say?" he muttered, glaring at his brother.

"I don't know, but I'm sure Lucy-Neechan just wants someone to talk to over anything else right now." Ven pointed out.

Kiyo didn't argue, knowing that his little brother was correct. "What should I say?" Kiyo asked, rubbing the back of his head.  
>Ven smiled. "I'm sure you'll think of something."<p>

"That's not very helpful." Kiyo scowled.

Ven chuckled a bit, looking towards the bathroom when the water stopped.

"It's ready." Lucy said, appearing from behind the door. "There is a fresh towel by the sink, and I put some of my long sweat pants and shirts in there. The shirt is one of my pajama shirts and is for men anyway so don't worry." Lucy announced when she saw Ven staring at her.

Ven smiled and nodded before disappearing into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

After a few seconds of silence Kiyo looked at Lucy. "Why do you have men's clothing for pajamas?' he questioned with a confused frown.

"Cause they are big and comfy." Lucy answered before walking into the kitchen, Kiyo following her. He leaned against the fridge as he watched Lucy begin to make some toast, which wasn't what someone usually had for dinner.

"…You okay?" Kiyo finally asked softly, causing Lucy to flinch a bit at how soft and caring his tone was.

"Yeah… I'm fine." Lucy said quietly, but Kiyo could tell the answer had been forced.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine Kiyo." Lucy said a bit more quickly, glancing over her shoulder at him before looking back down at her toast, which she had just begun to smear the butter on. Once she was done with the first piece, she reached for the second. Two hands beat her two it though.

Lucy's eyes widened as two large arms appeared on both sides of her body from behind, grabbing the toast, and the knife from her hand.  
>"Let me get this for you." Kiyo said into her ear as he began to put butter on the toast, Lucy's back still pressed against his chest. Lucy's cheeks burned a bright red as clutched her heart, watching Kiyo's hands with wide eyes.<p>

(_Kya! I love this scene! I was squealing the whole time I was writing it! It's times like these when Kiyo gets all confident and I just love it!)_

Once Kiyo was done he placed the piece of bread on the plate, moving his hands to rest on the counter, Lucy still in between his arms as he rested his head on her shoulder.

Lucy gulped. "K-Kiyo?" she stuttered, not willing to look over her shoulder to look at him.

"You don't have to be so strong." Kiyo muttered softly.

"Eh?" Lucy gasped a bit.

"You're upset, right? You didn't really want to leave their team, and it hurt that they replaced you. You don't have to be so strong about it. It's okay to cry." Kiyo explained, moving his hands off the counter to place them on Lucy's shoulders to turn her around.

Kiyo's stare was soft and caring, yet it also had a determined flare in them. "Lucy." He repeated, his words just as soft as his eyes. "It's okay."

Lucy's wall crumbled down at those 2 words. Something wet slide down her face, dripping onto her shirt. Lucy realized later she had been crying. Crying tears of pain, and lost.

Lucy leaned her head against Kiyo's shoulder, hiding her face from his soft gaze. Lucy helplessly grabbed onto Kiyo's sleeve, holding on as tight as she could.

"I-I-" she stuttered softly. Kiyo wrapped his arms around her back tightly, using one of his hands to caress her hair.  
>"Shh, it's okay." He said soothingly. "You don't have to say anything."<p>

The next 5 minutes were silent, the only sounds were the small sobs that escaped Lucy's lips and Kiyo's voice, "It's okay."

After a while the two pulled away from each other, staring at each other through dark green and hazel eyes.

Kiyo reached out his hand to whip away the remaining tears around the corner of Lucy's eyes.

"Kiyo." Lucy said softly.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." Lucy smiled brightly at him, causing the older boys face to heat up.

"N-No problem." He grinned, chuckling nervously.

The two paused, staring at each others eyes in wonder. Their faces all ready so close.

"Lucy." Kiyo said softly, leaning in a bit closer. Lucy blinked, feeling her eyes suddenly grow a bit heavy as Kiyo leaned in towards her face.

"Ki…yo." Lucy whispered softly as she rose to her tip toes a bit, their faces only a few inches apart.

"Bath is ready for the next person!" The two squeaked in surprise, jumping away from each other when Ven came bursting out from the bathroom, his new pajamas, which involved sweats and a large gray sweat shirt, clung to his not completely dry body. (**Denied! Hehe, sorry, I had to do it!)** Ven paused, staring at Lucy and Kiyo who were staring at him in horror, their faces resembling tomatoes.  
>"What are two doing?" he asked, tilting his head.<br>"N-Nothing! Haha! Bath time!" Lucy laughed hysterically, lunging for her pajamas and running to the bathroom, almost slipping on the wet floor. "Ahaha, I-I'll be going first then K-K-Kiyo." Lucy said before she slammed the door, scrambling for the lock.

Ven blinked, utterly confused. He looked towards his brother, who was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at his feet.

"Kiyo-niisan?" Ven gasped a bit when Kiyo fell to his knees, his index finger running over his bottom lip.  
>"Ven… you have the worst timing." Kiyo sighed in despair.<p>

Ven tilted his head, staring at his brother confused. "What?" he questioned, but paused at the sight of his older brother blushing like mad.

Kiyo could only think of one thing at this moment. Though it was only a small taste that was there for a split second, he could still make it out. The taste of strawberries.

**Well here we are, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review and such. ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

"That didn't happen, that didn't happen." Lucy murmured frantically, her face flushing red as she wrapped the towel around her body and used her hand to whip away the fog on the mirror. Staring at her face, which was the color similar to a tomato, Lucy gulped.

"That… did happen." Lucy realized softly. "No!" she snapped quickly. "No it didn't." Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose, shacking her head in denial. "We're just friends. That's all we ever were, that's all we will ever be." she concluded, quickly drying her self and getting on her cloths. If Ven hadn't come in, they would have…

"Kee! Don't think about it Lucy!" Lucy yelped, pulling at her hair, her face growing red once more. "B-Besides, you don't like Kiyo, the guy you like is-" Lucy froze. _What was she saying? _She didn't like any other guy… did she? No, how could she like a guy and not know it? Just thinking it made her sound crazy.

There was something in the back of her mind though that told her she was lying to her self. She was just in denial of her feelings.

Feelings? Feelings for who?

As Lucy thought about it more and more, the only thought that came to her mind was fire. Fire? What did it have to do with any of this? Was her mind giving her a secret message or something? What sort of mind does that? Couldn't her brain just tell her so she could get over it without having to grow heart broken.

"Silly me." Lucy whispered softly, grabbing the brush to run it through her blond locks. "You don't… You don't like anyone. Stop fooling yourself and giving your heart the wrong idea."

Lucy jumped in surprise at the sound of a large crash outside.

"What the hell are you doing here squinty eyes!" A voice roared in anger.

"Eh?" Lucy gasped, turning towards the bathroom door, where voices were yelling on the other side.

"I should ask you the same thing Pinky!" Kiyo called back.

"What the-" Lucy gasped. Was it Natsu? "Oh no." she yelped, throwing her brush to the ground to run outside, her hair still wet from the shower.

Lucy froze at the sight of Natsu and Kiyo throwing each other to the ground, punching each other with all their might. "N-Natsu, Kiyo!' Lucy gasped, running towards them in hopes of stopping them.

"Who said you could come in here?" Kiyo demanded, completely ignoring Lucy's calls to punch Natsu in the gut.

Natsu let out a sharp gasp, falling to his side to clutch his stomach. "I…" Natsu passed. "Always come here!" Natsu kicked his foot up to hit Kiyo in the jaw.

Kiyo stumbled back with a hiss of pain, charging towards Natsu once more. "This is trespassing you stupid Salamander." he barked, throwing Natsu over his shoulder and bending his back to swing Natsu into the table, causing it to smash.

Lucy covered her mouth. She liked that table. Looking around, she saw Ven and Happy standing towards the corner, gawking in shock at the two older mages.

"Ven, can't you do something?" Lucy begged.

"I'm sorry Lucy-neechan." Ven apologized. "I'd rather not get on Kiyo-Niisans bad side."

"Aye." Happy nodded. "Same for Natsu."

"What are you two even doing here?" Lucy sighed, staring down at Happy with her hands on her hips.

Guilt appeared in Happy's eyes, and he looked down at his feet. "We came to see you… and apologize for how we've been acting." Happy announced softly.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Apologize?" For some reason, even just hearing that from the young cat, made Lucy feel more happy then she could imagine. "I see." she smiled.

"T-Then Natsu saw Kiyo and got mad that he was here and the two started fighting cause Kiyo told Natsu to leave." Happy explained.

Lucy looked towards Ven, who nodded. "Those idiots." Lucy hissed, turning back to the two who were still punching and kicking each other.

"Lucy-Neechan, what are you going to do?" Ven questioned when Lucy began to march over to the two.

Lucy lifted her up hands, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Stop disturbing the neighbors!" Lucy screeched angrily, punching Kiyo and Natsu in the head, causing large bumps to appear.

The two whined in pain, collapsing to the ground without another word.

"Seriously. I'm kind enough to let both of you into the house and what do you do? You destroy it!" Lucy shook her head in disapproval.

"He came in without your permission!" Kiyo argued, glaring at Natsu angrily.

"Tattle tale." Natsu muttered, rubbing his head. "I always come in here, right Happy?' Natsu looked over at the his blue companion who smile.

"Aye!" he nodded.

"That doesn't mean I approve you coming in here." Natsu flinched as Lucy loomed over him threateningly.

"R-Right." Natsu said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I came here though to… to uh…" Natsu glared at Kiyo, wishing he would leave so he could talk to Lucy in private.

Kiyo had no plans on moving.

"To?" Lucy pushed.

"To apologize… for how we-I've, been treating you." Natsu announced, jumping to his feet to look Lucy in the eye.

A small smile pulled at Lucy's lips and she nodded, telling Natsu to continue.

"I shouldn't have ignored you like I did. I was just so happy when Lisanna came back that I didn't notice the feelings of those around me." Natsu paused. "I didn't notice your feelings Lucy."

Kiyo scoffed, folding his arms and looking away from the two.

"I'm sorry Lucy." Natsu continued. "I still really want to be friends though. We've had so many adventures together, I don't want them to end now. Cause spending time with you is so fun." There it was, Natsu's signature grin.

Lucy felt her cheeks burn a bright red and quickly looked at her feet in hopes of covering it up. "Natsu." she said softly. "Thank you. You don't know… you don't know how happy I am to hear you say that. Of course I'm still your friend. I'll always be your friend, cause…." Lucy paused a bit. Even if she was on Kiyo and Ven teams, Natsu was still a close ally and friend to her. Plus, she had only been kicked out of team Natsu, she hadn't stopped being Natsu's partner along with Happy.

That was something pass the Team Natsu group. So she hoped Ven and Kiyo would understand. Besides, Kiyo had said when she found him that Ven was his partner, so it shouldn't be a big deal if she still wished Natsu to be hers… right?

"You're my partner, right?" Lucy grinned.

"Lucy." Natsu smiled softly, his eyes brightening. Lucy couldn't help but notice though as soon as the words 'partner' left her mouth, Kiyo whirled around with a shocked, angry…. and hurt look in his eyes.

Ven seemed to look a little bit surprised too, but instead only looked towards Kiyo with worry.

"I-I'm still going to be on Ven and Kiyo's team though. We can still go on missions though, just Happy, you and me." Lucy nodded quickly. A small smirk of victory pulled at Kiyo's lips as he gave an odd look at Natsu, who instantly glared back.

Natsu frowned a bit at the name "Kiyo', but quickly smiled. "AH!" he grinned, holding his hand out to Lucy for a high five. Lucy chuckled, smacking her hand against Natsu's.

Thank goodness…. Thank goodness. She was still Natsu's friend. He hadn't completely forgotten her. To hear him apologize was enough for her. It would always be enough for her.

"But…. what are they doing here?" Natsu scowled, pointing to Kiyo and Ven.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Kiyo muttered, folding his arms.

"Oh, they're living here." Lucy answered, with a smile.

"They're what?" Natsu demanded.

"Living here? Why?" Happy said softly, floating around Lucy's heads, demanding answers.

"The don't have a place yet, so until they are able to go on missions and get some money I offered to let them stay here, with me."

_Let them stay with me. Let the stay with me._

Something about those words seem to mix around in Natsu's head. Instead of the words 'Let them stay with me', it sounded like 'Let _Kiyo _stay with me' in Natsu's mind.

Anger burned deep in Natsu's eyes as he glared at the red-headed mage, who was smirking mockingly at him.

"I….see. How very…_nice, _of you to do that Lucy." Natsu growled through gritted teeth.

Lucy smiled brightly at him, nodding. "Well, thanks for stopping by Natsu, but I think you have to leave now." Lucy announced.

"Why?" Natsu and Happy demanded together, looking towards the younger celestial mage desperately.

"Cause we have a mission tomorrow and have to wake up early." Lucy pointed out, causing her two friends to frown.

"B-But-"

The two weren't able to continue fore they were pushed towards the front door. "No buts, you have to leave." Lucy said sternly. "I'll walk you out."

Natsu and Happy pouted at Lucy, before nodding meekly.

"Be back in a sec." Lucy said over her shoulder to Kiyo and Ven, who both nodded, though Kiyo didn't look to happy about it.

The three comrades quickly walked down the stairs to the front door and Lucy held it open for them. "Thanks for stopping by. It really made me happy." Lucy announced.

Natsu nodded, glad he too was able to make up with Lucy.

"I'll have to talk with Gray and Erza too. I don't want any bad feelings left between the three of us." Lucy nodded to herself.

"Aye." Happy nodded. "I know, I'll go get fish so we can all eat them together!" with that, Happy flew ahead of Natsu, headed towards their house.

Lucy chuckled a bit. "So 'we' can all eat them together?" Lucy questioned.

"More like, so 'I' can eat them all to 'myself'." Natsu corrected. The two began to laugh, grinning widely. After a short pause, and a small staring contest between he two, Natsu frowned.

"Um… goodnight." he said slowly.

"Ah, goodnight." Lucy nodded, looking towards her feet. Lucy was about to step back to walk back inside when she felt Natsu place his hands on her shoulders, holding her in place. "Natsu-?" Lucy was about to look up from her feet but froze at the feeling of a pair of warm lips on her forehead.

_I…Is he?_

"….Night…" Natsu mumbled before bolting down the streets before Lucy could stop him. Lucy watched the fire mage flee with an exasperated look. Slowly reaching up, Lucy brushed her finger on her forehead, were the Salamanders lips had just given her a kiss.

That feeling was still lingering there too. As well as another feeling, deep in her chest.

"W…What was…. What was that!" she yelled in shock, bolting for her door. Sprinting up the stairs she burst into the room, causing Ven and Kiyo, who were kneeling down to the broken table, to jump in surprise.

"Lucy?" Kiyo asked. "Everything all right?"

"Fine!" Lucy snapped, causing Kiyo to flinch at the loudness. "Everythings fine. Peachy. Wonderful. Oh look at this, I have to go to the bathroom. Ahah, be back in a sec. Again!" Lucy yelled in an oddly cheery and high pitched voice before she once again locked herself in her bathroom.

After a short pause the two brothers looked at each other.

"Girls are strange Kiyo-niisan." Ven said whispered, not wanting Lucy to hear. After how hard she had hit Kiyo and Natsu, you couldn't blame him.

"Got that right." Kiyo nodded, reaching down to grab a piece of the table. "What is this?" he questioned.

"The leg to the table." Ven answered.

"Ah… think we could fix it?" Kiyo looked down at the demolished table with dismay.

"We're going to need a lot of glue."

With that, possible the biggest woodshop project began

-**-Natsu-**

_Idiot! Idiot! Why did you do that! You just apologized and you were finally able to speak with her again! _

Natsu, who had been running aimlessly away from Lucy's apartment, came to a stop near the forest at the outskirts of Magnolia. Slowly he collapsed to his knees, hunching over to catch his breath.

_You moron! You complete and utter moron!_

Yet, Natsu couldn't shack this feeling he felt in his heart. This warm and amazing feeling. What was it?

Placing his hand on his heart, Natsu was silent. What… is this?

**Well, here it is. I hope you enjoyed it! :D The battle for Lucy's heart has (sort of) begun!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Natsu, Kiyo, Gray!" Lucy yelled at the three boys angrily, who were once again picking a fight with each other. "Can't you three stay quiet for at least five minutes?"

The boys paused, each just about to punch one or the other in face, to stare at the blond Celestial mage.

Kiyo grumbled something and released Natsu's shirt, letting him step back with Gray.

Lucy sighed. She had noticed though, that Gray and Natsu actually seemed to be teaming up a lot lately. Ever since Kiyo had come, Natsu and Gray had stopped fighting with each other, and instead directed their anger at Kiyo. Kiyo didn't really seem to mind the challenge and took both of them on at the same time.

Never using his magic once in any of the fights.

Kiyo was amazing in Lucy's eyes, but she still wished he would tell her what type of magic he used.

"Sorry Luce." Kiyo apologized, using Natsu's nickname for her. Natsu's anger suddenly grew and Gray had to hold him back.

"It's fine I guess." Lucy sighed, taking a sip of her tea.

Ven laughed a bit from his spot next to Lucy. "Hey Lucy, lets go pick that mission we're going on today. You said we would go on a mission yesterday." Ven reminded.

Lucy raised her head, nodding. "Oh yeah." She grinned, jumping to her feat. "Time to work!" she cheered, rushing towards the board, Kiyo and Ven following after her.

Team Natsu stared at her as she passed by them, each frowning.

Deep in their hearts they wished that they were the ones who were going on a mission with the cheerful Celestial that brightened up the room with her smile.

They each missed her in their own ways.

Without Lucy, Gray was constantly stripped down to his boxers, sometimes more, in missions. Natsu, Happy and Erza never noticed or said anything when Gray stripped, making it very embarrassing when one of the clients would question him about it. Lisanna tried, but she was always hanging around Natsu so much that she never said anything either.

Unlike when Lucy was on the team. She would always notice and tell him instantly, then would joke about it with him after ward.

It was hard for Gray to deal with this 'stripping addiction' he had, but Lucy made it better and actually laughable from time to time.

To think that those times were coming to an end because he wasn't taking into account of Lucy's feelings. It mad him hate himself to know that she was suffering and he hadn't noticed.

Erza in her own way missed Lucy for her cheerful and responsible attitude. With out her, the group constantly did rash and reckless things, including her.

Lisanna was the same sweet and nice girl Erza remembered, but it just wasn't the same anymore without Lucy.

Lucy encouraged the group and was always supporting them. She was worried when anyone of them was injured and refused to leave their side till they were better.

Lucy understood Erza better then most people realized. She knew Erza wasn't good when it came to romance and was constantly worried that she might hurt her friends.

She often made Erza cheesecake even when she was feeling down. Lucy had to be one of the strongest people she had ever met, even if Lucy herself didn't realize it herself. Lucy was one of those who cared more about others then her and never gave up. She was a true Fairy Tail wizard and comrade to Erza.

To realize that she had hurt Lucy in such a way made Erza angry and ashamed of herself.

Happy himself felt very hurt and guilty about the whole situation. He had ignored Lucy like the others and hadn't been there for her when she needed them most.

Now she was gone from the team, and would never be coming back! He would never again be able to laugh with Lucy about how reckless the others were on a mission, or see her smile when she got off the train to return to Magnolia.

She would never give him a fish after a mission, knowing how well he tried to get stronger. Or pat him on the head when he was upset when Natsu and him fought.

At last there was Natsu, who was taking this separation harder then anyone else on the team. Happy had noticed that Natsu didn't eat or sleep as well once he had learned Lucy was apart of another team.

Natsu's heart hurt just at the thought of it. Why hadn't he noticed it sooner! None of this would have been happening if he had just thought better of Lucy's feelings instead of being blinded with joy at Lisanna's return.

It was amazing that Lisanna had returned to everyone, but ignoring and making Lucy feel alone was not okay!

He missed how she made him dinner when he snuck into her house, or how she would tuck him in if he fell asleep in her bed and she couldn't get him out.

Her missed her bright smile and cheerful attitude. They way she yelled at Gray and him if they were being too reckless and fought too much. The way she apologized for him if he broke something he wasn't suppose to.

That cheer she would give whenever they finished a mission, or how hard she worked to improve her magical abilities so she could be helpful to everyone.

That way she would always make Natsu grin and feel all fuzzy inside when ever she smiled at him or said his name.

Just thinking about her made Natsu's heart race so much that he felt like he couldn't breath.

Why? Why did he have to come in and take her away from him?

That stupid squinty-eyed jerk had no right to just barge in and act like Lucy belonged to him!

The way he would always wrap his arms around her shoulders and hug her without asking her permission first, it made Natsu furious!

If that wasn't bad enough, the guy was living with her for pete sake!

Why didn't Lucy scold Kiyo and Ven when they hugged her like she did for him? Sure he would jump out of nowhere to hug her, but so did they!

Natsu growled, folding his arms over his chest, trying his best to keep his anger in check.

"Hmm." Lucy hummed, staring at the request board in wonder. "Which job should we go on?" she questioned, looking the board up and down.

"Something that isn't too easy, but doesn't pay good." Kiyo concluded, folding his arms.

"Yeah." Ven nodded in agreement.  
>Lucy turned to the two boys, her hands on her hips. "Should you two want something that 'does' pay good?" she asked, wondering why the two weren't impatiently waiting to go on a mission so they could get money and get their own place to live.<p>

The two flinched, avoiding Lucy's stares. "We just… want to take things easy." They muttered.  
>"Since its our first mission together." Ven added quickly.<p>

Lucy nodded, understanding what they meant. "Oh okay, then lets pick something…. Like…" Lucy skimmed over the requests once more. "This one!" Lucy snatched the paper off the board and held it up for her comrades to see.

Kiyo and Ven leaned forward, examining the paper thoughtfully.

"Sounds good to me." Kiyo shrugged.

"Lets do it!" Ven cheered.

The job was simple, and luckily could be completed within a day or two. The task was to escort a few civilians from Serton Village (Random village name 0.0) back to Magnolia City.

"So it's agreed?" Lucy asked, waving the paper around with a smile. Kiyo and Ven nodded, both grinning.

Lucy grinned back then quickly rushed of to Mira to get the okay from her.

Kiyo took that as his chance to glare at Natsu without Lucy noticing.

Natsu, instantly seeing his look, glared back. The two boys approached each other, stopping in the center of the guild. Some stopped to stare at them, but quickly looked away, knowing it would probably turn into a fight.

"So you're going on a mission." Natsu hissed.

"Yeah, just Ven, Lucy, and me." There was a mocking tone in Kiyo's voice.

Natsu growled, small flames spreading over his hand. "Are you picking a fight?"

"I don't know, are you man enough to accept, Pinky?" Kiyo smirked.

"It's Natsu." Natsu growled.

"The color of your hair doesn't agree." Kiyo shrugged.

Natsu was about to reach out and punch Kiyo in the face, but froze when he saw Lucy heading towards them. "You better not let anything happen to her." He warned.

Kiyo frowned, his expression growing dark. "I'm going to protect her with my life. Unlike you, who abandoned her."

"I didn't abandon her." Natsu argued in a hushed tone, glad that Ven had called to Lucy, making her turn the other way and giving him a little more time to talk with Kiyo.

"Yeah, sure. If that was true then she probably wouldn't be on MY team right now." Kiyo folded his arms.

Natsu's glare looked like it could kill. "Just stay at a far distance. It's weird how you touch her so much, pervert."

Kiyo's left eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "Eh? Are you jealous? Do I annoy you when I hug Lucy?" he mocked.

Natsu flinched. "No." he barked quickly. "I just don't like it. You just found her two days ago, yet you're all ready touching her like some perv, yeah, that's classy."

Kiyo hissed in annoyance. "At least I don't sneak into her room, through the window." Kiyo pointed out.  
>"Happy does it too."<p>

"Yes, but he is a cat who is 6. That's not as creepy as a 18 year old boy sneaking in, just to sleep on Lucy's bed and eat her food."

"I don't just sneak in for that." Natsu snapped. "I go there to…"

"To?" Kiyo questioned, his eyes daring Natsu to continue.

"I go there to see her." Natsu confessed, rubbing the back of his head.

Kiyo's eyes widened a bit in shock, but quickly turned into a glare. "Well I don't approve. As her team mate, I have the right to kick you out of her house whenever I please."

"It's her house, and I'm still her partner." Natsu smirked, causing Kiyo to flinch.

"That doesn't make a difference." Kiyo stepped forward, as did Natsu. "Just stay away from her." He ordered darkly.

"Make me." Natsu challenged.  
>"Oh you can count on it." Kiyo saw Lucy heading towards them and straightened his back, stepping away from Natsu.<p>

"When you get back…" Kiyo looked back at Natsu questionable. "I challenge you, to a real fight. Magic against Magic. It's time you show just how strong you really are, if you're strong at all that is."

Kiyo scoffed, smirking. "All right, deal. Once I return, I'll show you just how strong a true magic user is. Then you'll know your place."

"Ha, we'll see."

The two fell silent when Lucy ran up to them.

"Kiyo it's time to go." She grinned.

"Okay Lucy." He nodded. Lucy frowned when she saw Natsu,

"You two weren't fighting, were you?" She asked suspiciously.

"Of course not Lucy!" Natsu and Kiyo laughed, sending each other fake smiles, though on the inside they were preparing to strangle each other.

Lucy smiled. "That's good. Well come on Kiyo, lets go." With that Lucy grabbed Kiyo's arm and dragged him towards the door, where Ven was waiting.

"Bye Natsu!" Lucy called over her shoulder.  
>"Yeah, by Natsu." Kiyo muttered. "See you when I get back."<p>

"I'll be waiting." Natsu hissed.

**The battle is on! Thank you all for reviewing! 200 reviews all ready! I was so shocked I fell out of my chair! I didn't expect it to grow this popular all ready! Thank you so much for all the support and encouraging me to continue this story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry for the wait.**


	8. Chapter 8

"I hate fire." Kiyo growled, inching farther and farther from the fire Ven had just set up to keep the civilians warm. Coughing a bit at the smoke, Kiyo wrapped his blanket around himself.

"You're weird Kiyo." Lucy chuckled a bit, holding her hands out to the flames to warm them up.

After reaching the Serton Village, they had quickly met up with the group of civilians they were assigned to escort back to Magnolia.

Lately, a group of bandits had been terrorizing the paths between Magnolia and Serton, so it was up to them to make sure the bandits didn't stand in their way.

The group wasn't too big and would be easy to watch. There were two children, their parents, and an elderly man. Since the group didn't like trains, they had been forced to walk back to Magnolia, which would at least take a day.

Glancing at the Civilians, she was happy to see they were all asleep. Now she could say what she wanted to say. "You know though… we probably would have completed the mission by now, if it wasn't for you." Lucy glared at Kiyo, annoyed at his behavior. They had left Magnolia for Serton yesterday.

The trip wasn't that long, by train. Kiyo for some reason though, refused to go on any moving vehicle, and was determined to walk all the way to Serton. Now they were walking right back.

"How is it my fault?" Kiyo pouted, staring at Lucy confused.  
>"We would have gotten to Magnolia by now if we had just taken a train yesterday." Lucy announced, puffing her cheeks out, clearly annoyed.<p>

Kiyo flinched, rubbing the back of his head. "I just don't like trains. They're not reliable and they always let out a lot of smoke. They're revolting things that shouldn't exist." Kiyo concluded, folding his arms with a nod.  
>"You're just saying that cause you get motion sickness whenever you're on one." Ven smirked innocently.<p>

Kiyo stiffened, glaring at Ven menacingly.

"Motion sickness?" Lucy asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah, he can't go on any vehicle without getting it." Ven laughed.

"Shut up Ven." Kiyo hissed.

Lucy stared at the two boys in surprise. Kiyo had motion sickness just like Natsu? Was that coincidence? "That's…"

"Pathetic, I know." Kiyo muttered, looking away from her, depressed that she had discovered his weakness.

"No, I think it's actually nostalgic." Lucy admitted, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Hmm?" Kiyo looked back at her, raising his eyebrow.  
>"Natsu, he gets motion sickness on moving vehicles too." Lucy announced, smiling at him.<p>

"He does?' Ven asked.

"Yeah. Yet, he's always fine whenever Happy flies him around." Lucy shrugged, closing her eyes. "Honestly, he's a pretty weird guy. I guess you're weird like him too, Kiyo." Lucy chuckled, causing Kiyo's cheeks to burn bright red.

"I-I'm not weird!" he argued in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake anyone up. "Besides, I'm nothing like that… pink haired moron." Kiyo hissed, glaring at the flames of the fire furiously.

Lucy chuckled a bit. "I know. You're Kiyo." Lucy yawned a bit, her eyes feeling heavy with exhaustion. Falling over to her side, Lucy began to close her eyes.

"Night, Lucy-Neesan." Ven whispered to her from his spot where he too was falling asleep.

"Night… Ven." Lucy called back, shivering a bit at the cold. Lucy's vision began to blur, but she blinked at the feeling of a blanket being pulled over her.

'Good night, Lucy." Kiyo whispered softly to her, brushing her bangs out of her face.  
>"Night Kiyo." She smiled back, closing her eyes. Kiyo smiled at her and was about to get up to go back to his spot by the tree, but paused. "You know Kiyo…" Lucy whispered,<p>

"What?" he asked back quietly.

"You're not like Natsu…" Lucy announced, her words beginning to slur a bit.

Realizing she was only half awake, Kiyo smirked a bit. "I know." He grinned.

"Cause you're… Kiyo. You're my Kiyo…."

Kiyo's eyes widened in surprise, his heart feeling like it was soaring. Looking at Lucy's face, he realized she had fallen asleep. Was that the exhaustion speaking just then?

What ever it was, it made Kiyo happy. He wasn't sure why, but it did.

Grinning widely, Kiyo crawled back to his spot, wrapping the blankets around himself.

Ven, who had yet to fall asleep, covered his mouth. Holding back a giggle, Ven grinned.

The next day, the group woke up just an hour after sunrise.

"Good morning everyone!" Lucy called, her stuff all ready packed and ready to go.

"Five more minutes." Kiyo muttered, rolling over to smack Ven in the face with his hand.  
>"Ow, Kiyo-Niisan." Ven scolded as he rolled away from him, rubbing his nose. Lucy chuckled a bit, walking over to Ven to grab his blanket. Once it was folded, Lucy looked at her two child hood friends. .<p>

"He hit me." Ven whined up at Lucy, like a child would to his mother.

Smiling at Ven, she patted his head. "Go wake the others okay, I'll handle him." Lucy winked at him. Ven smiled, nodding.

"Okay." He said scrambling to his feet to run to the civilians they were guarding.

When the younger mage was gone, Lucy kneeled down next to Kiyo, who had begun to snore once more. "Kiyo… Kiyo." She whispered to him.

Kiyo muttered something, but didn't reply any further.

"Kiyo…" Lucy poked his sides a bit, making the older mage chuckle a bit.

"D…on't…" he muttered in his sleep.

"Ticklish?" Lucy thought aloud, poking him again.

Kiyo chuckled once more, absentmindedly swatting Lucy's hand away. Lucy smirked.

"Poke, poke, pokepokepoke." Lucy sang, poking Kiyo several times in the side. Kiyo suddenly jumped forward, letting out a large laugh. "W-What the hell?" he laughed, clutching his stomach and looking around wildly.

Lucy began to laugh uncontrollable. "T-That was s-so cute!" she laughed.

Kiyo, unable to come to words, slowly felt his face turn red. "W…What?" he asked slowly.

"I didn't think you were ticklish." Lucy whipped away a tear that had made its way to the corner of her eye.

"I-I'm not!" Kiyo denied, blushing furiously, realizing what had happened.

Lucy giggled, pinching Kiyo's cheek. "You're embarrassed."

"Am not!" Kiyo muttered, his voice sounding funny as he winced at the pain on his cheek.

"You sound funny." Lucy pointed out, releasing his check.

Kiyo rubbed his cheek, glaring at Lucy from the corner of his eyes. "You making fun of me?" he asked threateningly?

Lucy, seeing the danger, pulled her hand back. "N-No." she said sweetly.

"Oh?" Kiyo raised his eyebrow, reaching towards her. "I think you were!' Kiyo jumped to his feet, reaching towards Lucy, who tried to flee.

Lucy began to laugh as Kiyo grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist. Lifting her up, Kiyo swung her around.

"Aww, are you two a couple?" the women, named Kristin, asked with a smile.

Both of them froze, slowly looking towards Kristin in shock. "W-What?" they stuttered.

"A couple." She repeated, tilting her head.

Lucy yelped when Kiyo suddenly dropped her, his eyes wide. "N…No!" he squeaked, his face turning red. "We're just friends, good friends. Well, we're are also team mates." Kiyo stuttered.

Lucy looked towards Kiyo, chuckling at his face. "Yes, good friends." She nodded towards Kristin.

Kristin stared at them for a while, slowly nodding. "I see." She giggled, rushing back to her husband to grab her luggage.

Lucy, watching her go, felt her cheeks turn a light color of pink. She didn't know why but thinking of Kiyo, or anyone, as her boyfriend, made Lucy's heart race. Just the thought of romance in general made her heart soar. "W-Well, let's get going." Lucy nodded grabbing her own stuff. Kiyo, clearing his throat, nodded "Yeah."

With that, the group was off. With a peaceful day like this, nothing could go wrong. They were wrong.

Within an hour, trouble appeared.

"Kyah!" Kristin screamed when a net suddenly wrapped around her, lifting her up into a tree.

Lucy gasped, whirling around at the sound of the scream. "Kiyo, Ven!" she called to them, alerting them of the danger. Instantly ready for battle, the two glared around, ready for an attack.

"Keep moving everyone." Kiyo said, pushing the two children towards their father and the senior citizen.

"My wife!" the man, George, cried.

"Don't worry." Ven assured him. "They got her." Pointing towards the tree, George saw Lucy had already begun to cut the ropes, waiting just into time for Kiyo to get to the tree and catch Kristin when she fell.

"T-Thank you." She stuttered as he placed her on the ground, removing the left over net.

"No problem." Kiyo nodded. Kiyo narrowed his eyes when he sensed a presence behind him. Kicking his foot up, he smacked a man that had jumped out of the bushes, a knife in his hand.  
>"Bandits!" Lucy gasped, jumping down from the tree. Grabbing Kristin by the arm, she lifted her to her feet. Kristin nodded to Lucy before running back to her family.<p>

"Heh." Kiyo smirked as the man fell. "Things are getting interesting now." As soon as he said that, eleven more bandits appeared from the trees.

All of them smirked, pulling out different weapons. "Oh, Fairy Tail wizards?" one scoffed, glancing at Lucy's hand as she reached for her whip. "Well, you brats wont be a problem. We are all wizards too, and it's Eleven against three!" the group began to laugh.

"Numbers do not win a fight." Kiyo pointed out, folding his arms with a determined grin.

"Heh, what a cocky brat." Another sneered.

"Lucy, can you watch over the civilians?" Kiyo asked as Ven appeared at his side  
>"Eh? Y-Yeah, but what about you two?" she asked softly, not wanting to leave their side.<p>

"We'll be fine Lucy-Neechan." Ven assured her. "Besides…"

"This our chance…" Kiyo trailed off.

"To show you what type of magic we have!" Both of the boys grinned, stepping towards the group of bandits, determined to show off to their young celestial mage.

Realizing that the two intended to show off their skill, she smiled. "Okay, just don't push yourselves. Call me if you need me." She said softly, rushing to the group of civilians who were huddled by a tree.

Once Lucy was gone, Kiyo smacked his knuckles together, grinning like a maniac. "Who is first?"

The bandits scowled in annoyance. "Stupid brats!" on wailed, charging forward.

"Ven. You may have the first one." Kiyo bowed a bit, letting Ven pass.

Lucy lifted her head, her eyes widening with excitement. What sort of magic did Ven just use?

As the man lifted up his sword to slice Ven's head off, a magical symbol appeared in front of the young mage. Ven smirked as the man was suddenly lifted into the sky.  
>"W-What!" the man gasped as he hovered over the ground.<br>"Out of my sight." Ven commanded, and with a flick of his wrist the man was sent hurdling far into the forest.

"W-What was that?" the remaining 10 gasped.

"It's called, 'Gravity magic'." Ven explained.

"A gravity mage!" The children by Lucy gasped, just as shocked as she was. So that was how Ven was able to pass the glass of water to Kiyo without spilling a single drop. He had been controlling the gravity over it!

"That's amazing." Lucy murmured with a grin.

"Kiyo-Niisan! Your turn." Ven grinned.

"About time." Kiyo placed his hands on his hips, smirking.

"Why you!" Two more ran forward.

Kiyo charged towards them, holding out his hands. "Water Dragon's, blade edge!" he screamed, as water appeared in his hands, cutting the bandits across the chests.

"Water?" Lucy gasped. "Does he control water like Juvia?" Lucy shook her head, realizing it wasn't true. This water was different to Juvia's. "Did he say… dragon?"

"A water mage?" the remaining eight growled.  
>"Not quiet." Kiyo announced, shacking his head. Leaning back, Kiyo's cheeks puffed out.<p>

"Is that-!" Lucy gasped.  
>"Try to doge this. Water Dragon's Roar!" Kiyo leaned forward, a large amount of magic in the shape of water spraying for his mouth like a flamethrower. The bandits screamed in surprise as they were flown back, hitting the trees with such force that it cause them to snap.<p>

Those who barely remained standing began to stutter.

"Hah!" Kiyo laughed, whipping his mouth with his sleeve. "That's what happens when you mess with mages from Fairy Tail!"

"Y-You monster!" the squeaked, fleeing back into the woods.

"Trying to get away?" Ven asked. The remaining three bandits screamed in surprise as they were lifted into the air.

"He winds up for the pitch." Kiyo called as Ven pulled his arm back then shot it forward.

The bandits screamed as they were sent flying into the air at an amazing speed.

"Look at them go!" Kiyo and Ven laughed as they disappeared into the forest.

Once the bandits were gone, the civilians began to cheer. Unlike the young Celestial mage, who was staring at Kiyo and Ven in shock.

"Dragon… roar?" Lucy whispered softly.

Stepping forward, Lucy tilted her head. "Kiyo… what sort of magic was that?"

Looking over his shoulder towards her, Kiyo smirked. "Wasn't it obvious?" he questioned.

Lucy shook her head, not following.

Kiyo nodded, understanding her confusion. "It's called, Dragon Slayer Magic. I am Kiyo, the Water Dragon Slayer."

"A dragon slayer!" the children gasped, stating Lucy's thoughts.

"That's a very old and rare magic." The elderly man, Cornio, mused.

Kiyo nodded towards him. "Though I wasn't taught by a dragon." He confessed. "I had a Lacrima crystal implanted into my a few years ago." Kiyo explained, answering Lucy's question before she could voice it.

"That was amazing!" the children began to cheer, jumping up and down. "Mr. Ven! You were so cool!" they called, running up to him.

Ven, realizing their comments, blushed with embarrassment. "N-No, it was the least I could do." He stammered nervously.

"You were amazing though. The way you lifted that guy up and just flicked him away." The younger of the two boys copied Ven's movements, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Ven smiled widely, having never been complimented like this before. "I-It wasn't that great." He said honestly.

As the group began to surround Ven, momentarily forgetting Kiyo, Lucy approached him.  
>"Water Dragon Slayer, huh?" she asked softly, glancing over his shoulders towards the trees Kiyo had knocked over with his magic.<p>

"Yup." Kiyo grinned, staring down at her.

_"He's also water._" Lucy thought softly, rubbing her chin. _"Maybe that's one of the reasons Natsu and him don't get along too well?_" Though she was sure there were other reasons, that might of just encouraged their rage to one another.

"Thanks, for protecting all of us.' Lucy smiled at him.  
>"Hey, it's my job." Kiyo shrugged, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. "Besides, I swore to protect you."<p>

Lucy blushed a bit at his words, grinning. "Well, you're doing a great job at it." She giggled, poking his shoulder a bit before she ran to Ven.

Kiyo watched her go, a small smile on his face. "I'll always protect you Lucy." He whispered softly.

**Tada! Here it is. The explanation to Kiyo and Ven's magic. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. ^_^**


	9. Chapter 9

"Rent money!" Lucy cheered, waving the large brown bag around. "Rent money, rent money! 70,000 jewels exactly!" she continued to cheer, skipping through the streets.

"Hey." Kiyo sighed, grabbing her by the arm. "It's pretty stupid to yell you have a lot of money. Some weirdo might try to rob you." He pointed out.

"Yeah Lucy-neechan. That's dangerous." Ven nodded in agreement.

Lucy smiled at them warmly, clutching the bag close to her chest. "I have you two here to protect me though."

Smiling at their childhood friend, Ven and Kiyo nodded.

"Of course!" they grinned, stepping forward to walk beside Lucy.

"I can't wait to get back to Fairy Tail!" Lucy sighed dreamily, hugging the bag close to her chest.  
>"Why?" Ven tilted his head.<br>"Hmm, not sure.' Lucy confessed. "I just always get a nice feeling in my heart whenever I walk into the guild. Especially when I am done with a mission."

"Ah I see." Kiyo nodded thoughtfully.

"This will be our first mission that we completed together as a team. We should celebrate!" Ven suggested, running ahead of them.

"That's a good idea Ven!" Lucy agreed, running after him.

"Sure, but not until after my fight." Kiyo called to them.

The young Gravity and Celestial mage froze, slowly looking over Kiyo in horror.

"Fight?" they questioned softly. Kiyo was confused by their stares and shrugged.

"Yeah." He nodded. Kiyo squeaked when Lucy suddenly grabbed the collar of his shirt, narrowing her eyes dangerously as she brought their faces closer together.

"What fight?" she hissed.

"U-Um… just a little spare." He stuttered softly, terrified at Lucy's evil glare.  
>"What sort of spare! We instantly get back and you start picking a fight? I swear if this fight is with who I think it is…" Lucy trailed off, letting Kiyo's mind wander to the many tortures he would have to go through. Lucy's eyes darkened as she scowled, angrily pressing her nose to his.<p>

Kiyo could feel a bead of sweat trail down his forehead.  
>"Is it… with Natsu?" she questioned. After the broken table incident, Lucy wasn't very happy when Natsu and Kiyo fought. Most of the times she couldn't stop them and had to let it go, but in a time like this, she had the upper hand.<p>

"Um…. M-maybe." He shrugged, trying his best to avoid Lucy's look.

Lucy's grip suddenly loosened, releasing Kiyo's collar.

Ven, surprised at Lucy's actions, gulped.

"Okay." Lucy smiled, grinning innocently at him.

Kiyo, expecting to be smacked, blinked. "O…Okay?' he questioned.

"Yup." Lucy nodded.

"Lucy-neechan?" Ven questioned.  
>"You can fight Natsu as much as you want. I wont stop you. When is this fight anyway?" Lucy's voice was oddly sweet.<p>

Kiyo stared at Lucy for a long time before he answered. "As soon as I got back. We made the challenge before we left." He explained.

"All righty then. Lets go!' Lucy turned back to the streets, grabbing Ven's hand to drag him forward. Kiyo, completely shocked, slowly followed after them.  
>"Eh? Lucy-neechan? You're okay with this?" Ven questioned, trailing behind her.<p>

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Lucy grinned, gripping Ven's hand tightly.  
>"But…." Ven trailed off.<p>

"It's fine Ven." Lucy smiled softly over her shoulder. "If Kiyo and Natsu want to fight, then I shouldn't stop them. Not exactly like I could anyway, but still."

Ven blinked, slowly smiling at Lucy's kindness. "Lucy-neechan. Even though she doesn't like it, she is still so nice!" Ven thought with a grin. Kiyo quickly caught up to them, staring at Lucy suspiciously.

"What's with her weird attitude?" He thought with a frown.

As the three approached Fairy Tail, Lucy burst out into a run, dragging Ven with her.  
>"H-Hey!" Kiyo called, running after them.<p>

"WE'RE BACK!" Lucy cheered, throwing open the door, still holding Ven's hand.

"Welcome back!" some guild members called back, glad to see they returned safely.

Lucy tucked her bag safely under her arm, grinning. "Mira, we're back." she announced.

Mira looked towards them, giving them a smile. "Yeah, welcome back." she nodded. "I hope the mission went well."

"It did!" Ven cheered, pumping his free fist in the air, still holding Lucy's hand. Mira couldn't help but giggle at how cute Ven was, holding Lucy's hand like she was his older sister.

"For our first mission, I agree." Kiyo smirked, folding his arms.

"That's right!" Mira gasped. "This was your very first mission as a team. You should celebrate!"

"That's was we intend to do. Kiyo has something to do first." Lucy explained, giving Kiyo and innocent smile.  
>Kiyo flinched at the sight of it, grinning weakly. "Y-Yeah." He nodded. "What's with her? Those smiles, I've got a bad feeling about them." Kiyo thought with a shudder.<p>

"Something to do first? What is that?" Mira asked, tilting her head.  
>"KIYO! You back?" Natsu's scream called from the other side of the guild.<p>

Lucy, all ready feeling Natsu's flames from their distance, smiled. "Seems he is here Kiyo."

"R-Right." Kiyo flinched at her weird smile.

"Are you two going to fight?" Mira asked, seeing Natsu's fast approach.

Kiyo, realizing they were about to fight, smirked. "Yo, Pinky." He turned to Natsu, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"It's Natsu!" Natsu barked angrily. Natsu paused from his glaring contest with Kiyo at the sight of Lucy. "Yo Luce! Did this squinty eyed moron give you any trouble?" Natsu examined Lucy's body up and down, scanning for injuries.

"Not at all Natsu. I'm fine." Lucy answered smoothly.

"Squinty eyed?" Kiyo questioned with a scowl. "Want to repeat that, Pinky?" Kiyo growled.

Narrowing his eyes dangerously, Natsu smirked. "Squinty eyed." He repeated.

Kiyo, lifting his hand up to punch Natsu, realized they were in the guild. "Want to take this outside?" he growled.  
>"That was my intention from the beginning." Natsu answered, walking towards the door, Kiyo at his side.<br>Lucy let them pass, still smiling, though you could see a little worry in her eyes.

"Lucy-Neechan, are you sure?" Ven asked softly.

"I'm sure Ven." Lucy said softly, strolling towards the door after her two hotheaded friends.

"Oh? Is there a fight happening?" Macao asked, seeing Natsu and Kiyo's looks.  
>"A fight?" Wakaba gasped. "Between Natsu and Kiyo!" Wakaba's announcement was enough for the whole guild to hear. "I got to see this." Wakaba and Macao jumped from their seats, running after the two dragon slayers.<p>

"Hey, maybe we can see Romeo's magic." Romeo, who was standing next to Wendy, mumbled.  
>"You're right!" Wendy nodded.<p>

The rest of the guild, interested to learn of the guild newest member's magic, followed after suit. The master sighed, looking up from his table.

"A fight, huh? I wonder how this will turn out, knowing the main reason those two are fighting." Makarov jumped down from the table, calmly strolling towards the door.

Erza, hearing the Master's words, followed him. "You are not going to stop them, Master?" she questioned.  
>"I don't see why not. This shows that they acknowledge one another." Master said calmly, giving Erza his elderly grin.<br>"What did you mean though Master. 'Knowing the main reason those two are fighting'?" Erza repeated the Master's words, confused by what she meant.

Master let out a low chuckle. "You'll understand eventually Erza."

With that, the two mages exited the guild, joining the small mob of people that had begun to encircle the two hotheaded mages.  
>"Ready to get your butt kicked?" Natsu asked, grinning.<p>

"By you? Not even in your 'dreams' Pinky." Kiyo chuckled, stepping into a fighting stance. "I've seen your magic all ready anyhow. Pretty pathetic."

"What did you say!" Natsu growled, flames appearing in his hand. "Just you wait, these flames of mine are gonna burn you into a crisp."

"With our magic though, you're are at a disatvantage. Not to mention in all our other battles, I never even used my magic." Kiyo smirked.

The rest of the guild slowly nodded. Kiyo had not once revealed his magic to anyone. From what they found out, Kiyo did not wish to expose his magic till he was in a mission. That way, he could show off to Lucy.

Though he completely denied any of that, with a red face.

Now that Team Kiyo's first mission, perhaps now would be the time he showed the guild his true power.

Kiyo narrowed his eyes, momentarily glancing towards Lucy. He was not going to lose to this, Natsu Dragneel. Especially since Lucy was watching. Natsu- no, her whole team had abandoned her! He was going to prove to her that he can and would protect her from anything that tried to hurt her.

Natsu growled at the very sight of Kiyo. Why did he have to show up in the first place anyway? Thanks to him, Lucy was walking farther and farther away from him.

Frowning, Natsu glanced towards Lucy.

Maybe he deserved this though? He was pathetic and let her slip away in the first place. Because of him, Lucy was hurt and was lonely for over 2 months.

Even so though, he was going to make this right! He was going to show Lucy that he would never let anything bad happen to her again! So not matter what happens, he wasn't going to lose here!

"Begin!" Master yelled, folding his arms.

Kiyo and Natsu charged at each other, fists ready.

"I'm not… Losing!" they both screamed, smacking their fists against one another's face.

Lucy flinched at the sound.

The two stumbled back from the attack, but didn't hesitate for the next move. Natsu jumped forward, kicking Kiyo in the face, causing him to slide backwards.

"Why you-" Kiyo hissed, rubbing at his cheek.

"Heh." Natsu chuckled.

"Don't get cocky!" Kiyo snapped, whirling around to kick at Natsu's feet, throwing him to the ground.  
>"They haven't used magic yet." Romeo whined, a little disappointed.<p>

"Knowing those two… it wont be long." Lucy said softly.

They fight continued on for another 10 minutes, only involving kicks and punches.  
>"Get serious, you morons!" Gray yelled at them.<p>

"Shut up Gray!" Kiyo and Natsu snapped in unison. Turning back to their fight, Natsu held up his hand.

Flames engulfed his hands as he narrowed his eyes.

Kiyo, seeing the rage in his eyes, prepared for the attack. "Come." He challenged.

Natsu, accepting Kiyo's game, ran forward. "Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Thrusting his fist forward, Natsu gasped when Kiyo caught his hand.

"Idiot, the flame will burn Kiyo's hand!" Cana gasped.

"No they wont." Ven smiled, his bangs shielding his eyes. "Fire can't hurt Kiyo-nii-san. Right, Lucy?" Ven grinned at her.

Cana and a few other members followed Ven's gaze, looking at Lucy confused.  
>"Right." Lucy said softly, never turning her gaze away from the two boys.<p>

Natsu's eyes widened as stem began to rise from both of their hands. Natsu's flames began to decrease till nothing but their hands remained.  
>"What?' Natsu gasped.<br>"Oh? Didn't I tell you?" Kiyo smirked, tilting his head as he tightened his grip around Natsu's fist. "Fire can't affect me. I suppose you could say that I… negate its strength."

Kiyo suddenly pulled Natsu forward by his fist, meeting his approach with his fist.

Stumbling back, Natsu fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose. "Negate?" he questioned, his voice sounding funny.

"That's right." Kiyo glanced towards Lucy, who gave him a nod and smile, encouraging him to show everyone. Lifting up his hand, a sphere of water began to hover above it. "I am Kiyo, the Water Dragon Slayer!"

The crowd fell silent, staring at Kiyo in shock.  
>"Water…." Wendy whispered. Behind her, Gajeel stepped forward, interested in the battle now.<p>

"Dragon Slayer?" Natsu finished.

"Woah!" Romeo yelled, excited. "Five Dragon Slayers now! That's awesome!"

He was right too. With Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Laxus, and now Kiyo, the guild had 5 Dragon Slayers.

In Lucy's opinion, Dragon Slaying magic was starting to become less rare by the day.

Cana and Macao turned towards Ven. "Are you one too?" they asked, taking into account that Ven and Kiyo were siblings.

"Ah, no." Ven laughed nervously, holding up his hands. "Kiyo's magic is Lacrima based. I'm not a Dragon Slayer."

"Oh, so he is like Laxus." Mira nodded.

"Then…." Elfman looked to Ven, who flinched at his stare. "What type of magic do you have?"

Ven chuckled nervously. "Look, the battle is continuing."

"Aww." Lucy thought softly with a smile. "Ven's nervously to talk about his magic. How cute!"

"Water Dragon Slayer Magic huh?" Natsu chuckled, jumping to his feet. "Doesn't matter, I'll still beat you!" he declared.

Kiyo scoffed, motioning for Natsu to approach. "Bring it on, Pinky."

Thus the challenge between Water of Fire began, leaving the area in stem.

"So much stem, it feels like a sauna!' Lisanna gasped.  
>"Right?" Lucy giggled. The two paused to stare at each other. Though Lucy had forgiven Lisanna for what happened and did not blame her, Lisanna still felt responsible for what Lucy had to go through.<p>

Lisanna blinked when Lucy grinned at her. "Don't worry so much Lisanna. You'll get wrinkles marks right here." Lucy poked Lisanna's forehead.

"Lucy will too." Happy commented, flying over her head.

"Shut up, stupid cat!" she yelled at him.

Lisanna stared at Lucy for a long time, a soft smile spreading across her face as she touched her own forehead. "Thank you… Lucy." She whispered.

"Huh?" Lucy questioned, looking back at Lisanna.

"Nothing." Lisanna smiled, waving her hand around in attempts to cool herself down. "Gray, come stand over here!" she commanded, seeing as how the area around Gray seemed to be nice a cool compared to the rest of the area. Gray, followed by Juvia, walked over to Lucy and Lisanna, folding his arms.

"Much better." Lucy smiled, all ready feeling the coldness radiation off of Gray's body.

"You're like a fire…. But backwards." Lisanna grinned. Lucy chuckled. Gray blinked, obviously confused about what the girls were referring to.

"Love rivals." Juvia hissed from her spot behind Gray.  
>"Don't just hide behind me." Gray sighed at her, stepping a few inches away from the obsessed water mage.<p>

The group looked back at the fight, which had lasted for up to 20 minutes by this point.

"Those two seem to be reaching their limit." Levy said softly, seeing the sweat on their faces.

"They wont stop till there is a winner though." Cana grumbled, folding his arms.  
>"You can do it Natsu!" Happy cheered.<p>

"You can do it Kiyo-Niisan!" Ven corrected. Happy and Ven paused to glare at each other.

"Natsu will definitely win." Happy announced, folding his small arms.  
>"No, Kiyo-Niisan is strong. He'll win." Ven argued.<p>

"Natsu is stronger!"  
>"Is not!"<br>"You two…" Charle sighed.

Lucy chuckled. "Just like children."

"They are… well, Ven is questionable." Gray shrugged.

"He is 16." Lucy folded her arms.

"That's why I said 'questionable'." Gray explained.

Lucy pouted at them. Slowly frowning she turned back to the fight. Kiyo and Natsu really couldn't continue like this. They both looked like they were about to collapse, and were low on magical power. Yet they continued to fight on, neither giving in.

Why?

"Come on Natsu, end this!" Cana yelled.  
>"Go!" the guild cheered.<p>

Water and Fire appeared in the boy's hand, showing that this attack would be the final one.

Neither of them could move very much now, and they were just about out of magical power.

"Last attack!" Erza declared.

Natsu and Kiyo took that as a chance to go, and sprinted towards each other.  
>"I can't watch." Wendy whispered, shielding her eyes.<p>

"GO!"

"Kiyo!" Natsu screamed.  
>"Natsu!" Kiyo growled.<p>

Both boy's brought their hands together, giving their attacks all the power they had left. As soon as their fists connect, the ground below them cracked, and both were sent flying back by the amazing serge of power.

A power serge burst out into stem, surrounding the area.  
>"So much steam!" Lisanna gasped.<br>"Who won!" Gray called, swiping his hands around in attempts to clear the air. As the stem began to clear, Fairy Tail fell silent.

In the midst of the stem, two figures where left standing, glaring at each other intently.

"Like hell…. I'd lose to you…" Natsu breath heavily, whipping the sweat off his forehead.  
>Kiyo, who was slightly hunched forward, smirked. "Same to you…. Pinky."<p>

After a short pause, both of the boy's eyes softened. "I can't…. go any more…" they muttered, falling forward, hitting the ground.

"Tie!" Makarov announced.  
>"Aww, that's disappointing." Cana whined, wanting to see a winner.<p>

Lucy for some odd reason, felt actually relieved that a winner was not decided. The group began to dispatch, heading back into the guild.

"Natsu!" Happy cried, running up to his friend to shack his shoulder a bit.  
>"Lucy, we should take Kiyo back to your apartment." Ven suggested, looking worried for his brother.<br>"Ah, you're right." Lucy nodded, walking towards Kiyo.

"We can help." Erza offered.

"No need!" Ven grinned. "I got him." Holding up his hand, which had begun to glow, Kiyo was lifted into the air by an invisible force.  
>"Eh!" Gray, Erza, and Lisanna gasped.<p>

"Hehe." Ven chuckled, rubbing the back of his head as his brother began to float near Lucy. "I'm a gravity mage." He explained.  
>"Gravity… that's pretty awesome." Gray mumbled, glancing from Ven to Kiyo, surprised that such a small kid had such a strong magical ability.<br>"I see great promise in you Ven." Erza nodded, causing the young boy to flush red with embarrassment.

"Make sure you get him home now, and give him some soup!" The master called to him, as his now giant hand lifted Natsu's limp form up, preparing to bring him into the guild.

"Once I heal Natsu-san, I'll head right over to your house!" Wendy called to Lucy as Ven began to walk away with Kiyo.  
>"Okay!" Lucy called, running after Ven. As the three walked home in silence, Lucy looked towards Kiyo. His face was badly bruised, and a small trail of blood led down from his forehead to his chin.<p>

"Idiot." She whispered softly.

~~~~~Later~~~~~~

The scent of Vanilla and Strawberries instantly filled Kiyo's nose as he began to gain consciousness. "Lucy?" he mumbled, struggling to open his eyes.

"I'm here. You took quiet a beating. Wendy came by and took care of most of your wounds though. She ran out of magical power and said she would come back tomorrow to heal the rest." Lucy's sweet voice reached Kiyo's ear like a bell.

Kiyo's eyes felt heavy and he was unable to open them. "I see. I'll have to thank her then." Kiyo grinned weakly. He flinched when he felt a hand cup his face, running their thumb over a few of the bruises.

"Moron." Lucy whispered. Kiyo was always so reckless. So was Natsu. How was he right now? She hoped he wasn't in too much pain. He always pushed him too far for his body to handle.

Feeling his cheeks turn hot, Kiyo was suddenly glad he couldn't open his eyes. He would be to embarrassed to look Lucy in the eye anyway.

"S-Sorry." He mumbled. "I just…"

"You and Natsu are both morons." Lucy snapped suddenly. "Going to that far of an extent. What were you two thinking?"

"We had a score to settle." The room was silent, and Kiyo could not hear Ven. Judging by the sound, it must have been late at night. "What time is it?"

"2:00 in the morning." Lucy answered. So Ven probably was asleep then.

"What are you still doing up, stupid." Kiyo chuckled, feeling a slight pain on his face.

"I had to make sure you were all right." Lucy answered. Due to her lack of sleep, Lucy was a little out of it. Without meaning to, she reached up and began to caress Kiyo's hair.

Kiyo blushed a bit at the feeling. Gulping he said, "Y-You should probably go to bed."

"In a while.' Lucy muttered.

Slowly relaxing to Lucy's touch, Kiyo realized that the ground below him was soft. Was he on her bed? Where was she sleeping then?

"Lucy-"

"Kiyo." Lucy interrupted. "You know, I was really happy when you found me."

"Eh?" Kiyo questioned, wishing he could open his eyes, even just a bit, so he could see Lucy's face.

"I thought I would never see Ven or you again. When I realized it was you in the guild, I felt so happy. You had kept your promise…" Lucy trailed off, her hand stopping for a moment, before she continued to run her fingers through Kiyo's hair.

"Of course, we promised right?" Kiyo smiled a bit.

"Yeah…. Kiyo?"

"Hmm?" Kiyo asked, beginning to enjoy the feeling of Lucy's fingers slightly pulling and tugging at his hair. If he remembered correctly, she would do this all the time when they were little.

There was a pause, and the bed shifted a bit. "Thanks." Lucy whispered in his hear, before something warm touched his forehead.  
>"Wha…?" Kiyo gasped at the feeling, but it quickly disappeared. He could still feel it though, that lingering feeling on his forehead. Did she just…?<p>

"Good night." Kiyo heard Lucy get up from the spot she was crouched down to walk over to the couch.

Silence filled the room once more, showing that Lucy had probably slept on the couch with Ven, and was bound to be asleep by now.

*da-dum* *da-dum*

"What…?" Kiyo whispered softly, his hand slowly reaching over his chest to clutch his shirt. "Am I…?" Slowly covering his lower face with his hand, Kiyo suddenly felt very flustered. "I think I've… fallen." He whispered in realization.

~~~Natsu~~~  
>"I lost!" Natsu wailed angrily.<p>

"It was a tie, moron." Gray sighed. "Neither of you lost or won."

"I wont except this!" Natsu yelled, preparing to jump to his feet and run to where Kiyo was, demanding a rematch.  
>"Stay down!" Erza snapped, forcing Natsu down to the bed with her foot, almost crushing his ribs.<p>

"A-Aye." He stuttered, his face blue. As Erza nodded, folding her arms, Natsu's mind began to wander off.

"Kiyo." He thought sourly, glancing towards the window. "Next time… I wont lose! Next time I'll show you, and her… I wont ever make the same mistake again. You can't have her that easily…." Natsu's vision began to blur as his eyes closed, exhausted. "I wont…. Give Lucy up…. With out a fight…" those were his last thoughts before his mind became fuzzy, and he drifted off back into sleep.

**O.o oh my, oh my. We've reached the part in the story… were I have no idea what to do anymore. I still know the plot I'm taking this story of course, I just… have no idea what the pairing for this story should be. I have fallen in love with boy Natsu and Kiyo, and have no idea which one of them should get Lucy. It's so frustrating! **


	10. Chapter 10

The guild was silent, staring towards the young Kiyo in worry. Ever since he entered the guild, surprisingly without Lucy or Ven, he has seemed rather depressed.

After entering the guild, Kiyo instantly went to the bar, collapsing on a chair and lurching forward. A small cloud of despair hovered over his head, showing that something had happened to upset the boy.

"What's up with Kiyo?" Gray questioned, propping his elbow on the table and leaning against his hand.

"I don't know." Wendy blinked. "Maybe he got in a fight with Lucy?"

"I'm sure she wasn't too happy with Natsu and Kiyo fighting yesterday." Levy nodded in agreement. Deciding to find out why, Levy called to the water dragon slayer, "Kiyo! Are you okay?"

Slowly looking over his shoulder, Kiyo whimpered in despair. "I've been kicked out."

"Eh?" the group questioned, running to hear Kiyo's words better.

"Lucy… she kicked me out for the next week." Kiyo sobbed in silence.

_"Good morning world!" Kiyo cheered, jumping up onto the table and stretching his arms._  
><em>"Well you're lively… and get off my table!" Lucy scolded.<em>

_"Kiyo-niisan, how are you feeling?" Ven frowned, worried his brother might still be in pain._

_"Great Ven. Man, I haven't slept this good in ages. What's your bed made out of Lucy? Cotton? Clouds?" the young water dragon slayer grinned._  
><em>"A bed can't be made out of clouds." Lucy rolled her eyes, staring down at the breakfast she was making.<em>  
><em>"I think it's plausible." Kiyo argued, jumping down from the table and into his seat.<em>

_Chuckling, Ven said, "I'm glad you're better Kiyo-niisan. Lucy-neechan and me were worried."_

_Smiling at his younger brother, Kiyo patted his head. "So, what's for breakfast?"_  
><em>Lucy silently walked back to the table, two plates of food in her hands. She placed one in front of Ven and the other in front of herself.<em>

_Kiyo blinked when he didn't get any food. "Lucy-"_  
><em>"Oh, were you hungry?" Lucy interrupted, her voice sounding as smooth as silk. There was something about her tone that Kiyo didn't like.<em>

_"Y…Yeah." He nodded slowly._

_Ven, realizing just where Lucy was going with this because she had told him earlier, chewed his food in silence. "Sorry, Kiyo-niisan." He thought sadly._

_"Kiyo." Lucy's voice was suddenly stern._

_"Y-Yes?" Kiyo squeaked, straightening his back._

_"Yesterday, I allowed you to have your little with Natsu." Lucy folded her arms, her voice even. Seeing Kiyo nod, she continued, "However, you were injured as well as Natsu, and could have killed each other."_

_"W-We wouldn't have…. Killed each other." Kiyo grumbled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. He really didn't like where this was going._

_"That aside, I can't let this happen again. So, I want you to pack your stuff and move back to the guild."_

_Blinking, Kiyo wasn't sure he heard right. "W-What?" he stammered softly._  
><em>"You are not allowed in this apartment for the next week. You have to stay at the guild till I say you can come back." Lucy proclaimed.<em>

_Growing pale, Kiyo could feel his jaw drop. "N….No way!" he sobbed._

-End of flashback-

"A-And that's what happened." Kiyo hiccupped. In honestly, he felt horrible right now. Like a lost child trying to find his way home. To know he wouldn't be able to sleep in that warm apartment with Ven and Lucy near by, it made him feel lonely.

"It's just for one week." Gray frowned, folding his arms.

"Yeah, don't worry Kiyo. The time will go by fast." Levy assured him, giving him a friendly pat on the back.

Kiyo nodded slowly, put instantly perked up when the front doors opened. Hoping to see Lucy and his brother, Kiyo scowled at the sight of a certain pink haired Fire mage.

"Pinky." He muttered.

Natsu glared at him as he passed. "Where is Lucy?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Kiyo grumbled.

Annoyed by his attitude, Natsu folded his arms. "You wanna fight?"

"Like that will end well." Levy sighed.

Kiyo, not in the mood for Natsu, almost agreed. Then the horrifying thought of Lucy extending his 'banishment' reached his brain.

The reason he was kicked out was because he fought Natsu in the first place. If he did it again, who knew what his punishment would be!

Turning pale, he could feel a cold sweat cover his forehead. "Um… not really." He choked out.

Taken aback, Natsu blinked. "No? What are you, chicken?"

"No." he snapped. "I just…"

"Don't want to get Lucy even more mad at you." Gray guessed.

"Exactly." Kiyo sighed, slouching onto the counter.  
>"What? Lucy's mad at you?" Natsu blinked, though he sounded a little pleased by this.<br>"She kicked him out for a whole week since you two fought yesterday." Levy nodded.  
>"Ha! Serves ya right!" Natsu laughed, pointing mockingly at his rival.<p>

Growling at him, Kiyo tried to keep his temper in check. Though as he thought back to the fight that occurred yesterday, he realized he was still a little soar. He wouldn't admit that out loud just in case Natsu wasn't feeling any pain.

He would seem weaker then that pink haired moron.

"I guess Ven's got Lucy all to himself." Gray mumbled, rubbing his chin.  
>"What does that mean?" Kiyo and Natsu snapped at the smirking ice mage.<p>

"Nothing really, I'm just saying. Ven is one of those kid like boys, right?" Natsu and Kiyo nodded, staring at Gray confused.

"That's right." Levy gasped. "Lu-Chan always adores those cute and sweet guys. Ven matches that perfectly. Though I'm not sure how she feels about younger guys." She giggled.

Both of the dragon slayers froze.

"_V-Ven wouldn't do that. He's my bro after all. He doesn't like Lucy in 'that' way. Right? Right!_" Kiyo thought frantically, running his fingers through his hair.

Natsu, though it took him a few moments to understand, grew angry. "_That little brat wouldn't dare to try and lay the moves on Lucy. She's not into him that way anyway! … right_?" Natsu thought grimly.

As if on cue, the Fairy Tail doors swung open, revealing the guilds young Celestial and Gravity mage.

"Lucy, Ven!" Mirajane welcomed them with a smile.  
>"Good morning everyone!" Lucy grinned.<p>

Gray held back an amused chuckle while Kiyo and Natsu on the other hand stared in horror.

Lucy and Ven were holding hands as they walked into the guild.

Granted, Kiyo had seen Lucy and Ven hold hands a lot and it never meant anything, but after hearing Gray's words he realized…. It might mean something!

Maybe he was just over reacting? This could just be that "sibling' love holding hand thing. Just because they were holding hands doesn't instantly mean they were a couple or anything.

…right?

Biting his lower lip, Kiyo watched as they approached. Natsu's hands rolled into fists and he growled softly.

"Hey Luce." He greeted with a nod, giving her a grin.  
>"Hey Natsu." Lucy paused to look at Kiyo. "Hmph." She said, turning to look the other way.<br>Kiyo's depression rose immensily as his jaw hung open. Natsu snickered.

"How are you feeling Natsu?" Lucy tilted her head, worry growing in her eyes.

For some reason, Natsu felt very happy that she was concerned. "Great. Nothing can keep me down!" he chuckled, pumping his fist in the air.  
>"That's good. Don't push yourself, okay?" Lucy smiled warmly at him. Feelings his cheeks heat up, Natsu nodded feebly.<p>

"Right."

Kiyo narrowed his eyes, feeling something painful in his chest. _"She didn't tell me to take it easy."_ He mentally whined.

"So Lu-chan, what are you doing today?" Levy asked.

Smiling at her blue haired friend, Lucy brought Ven into a one sided hug. 'Ven and me are going to go around town a bit."

"Lucy-neechan said I could help her shop and then show me that new store at the end of town." Ven added, smiling up at her.

Levy blinked, nodding.

Kiyo and Natsu held back gasps. "Those two…. Alone… together!" the mentally screamed. Both wanting to step in and argue realized that Lucy would probably yell at them.

Natsu had learned his lesson before when he got upset about Lucy joining Ven and Kiyo's team, and knew he would just anger her if he said no.

And Kiyo was already on Lucy's anger list at the moment, so angering her even more might mean permanent 'banishment'.

"Shall we go?" Lucy asked, linking arms with her younger companion.

"Yup!" Ven cheered, and thus the two went running off, arm in arm.

Feeling the wood peel of under his finger tips, Kiyo held back the urge to murder his younger brother. When it was all three of them Kiyo never felt this, so how come when it's Ven and Lucy alone he gets so… so… he couldn't even describe what this feeling was, but he knew he didn't like it.

Natsu wasn't any better. This feeling in his chest was the exact same feeling whenever he saw Kiyo alone with Lucy. Something about Lucy looking and smiling at any other guy then him just made his blood boil.

There was a word for this, wasn't there? Lucy said it a few times in her story. Something that started with a J. Jello? Jumbo? Jeal. Jealous? …Jealous? He wasn't jealous, was he?

Natsu rubbed his chin in thought.

"Natsu!" Happy called to him after attempting to give a fish to Charle. "Lets go do a job!" the young exceed grinned.  
>"Um… not right now Happy." Natsu muttered.<br>"Eh? Why?' Happy whined.

"I have… something to do. Don't follow me!" He commanded, pointing at his best friend before fleeing out the door.

"Yeah, I have to go to." Kiyo rubbed the back of his head, rising to his feet and bolting out the door.

When both dragon slayers left, Mirajane chuckled. Placing a hand on her cheek, she looked towards the group, "We all know where they are headed, right?" she cooed.

"Lucy." Everyone nodded.

"Lucy? Why?" Happy tilted his head.

"Well Happy, say Charle went somewhere alone with… uh… Lily." Levy paused to point at the black exceed, who heard his name and looked at them. "Wouldn't you want to follow after them?"

"Of course!" Happy nodded, glaring at his 'rival'.

Lily frowned, not quite sure why the young exceed was angry with him.

"So wait…" Happy's anger left him. "Natsu and Kiyo went after Lucy… cause she is alone with Ven?"

"Yup." Mira nodded.  
>"So they're jealous? So that means…." The group sighed, knowing where he was taking this. "They liiiiiike her."<p>

"Lucy-neechan this is embarrassing!' Ven whined trudging out from behind the curtain, once again wearing an outfit Lucy picked out for him.

"You look so cute though Ven." Lucy grinned.

"P-People are staring." Ven stammered softly, flushing a bright red.

Realizing that the young boy had enough embarrassment for the day she agreed to let him change back into his cloths.

Ven thanked her and bolted back to the dressing room.  
>"How cute." Lucy chuckled, turning back to look at the other cloths. Little to her knowing, two dragon slayers were currently crouched down and watching her from outside the window.<p>

"What the hell are you doing here Pinky?' Kiyo growled, never taking his sight off of Lucy.

"I came to check out this store?" Natsu said back, staring at Lucy as well.

"Check out the store my butt. You came to watch Lucy, didn't you? Little creeper." Kiyo hissed.

"Oh so now I'm the creeper. What are doing here then?"

Visible flinching, Kiyo glanced at him. "I'm… checking up on my little brother."

"Right sure, so then why have you only been watching Lucy this whole time?" Natsu questioned.  
>"I could ask you the same thing." Both boys glared at each other intently. Realizing their main objective for coming there, the boys snapped their attention back to the store. Both flinched when Lucy was no longer where they last saw her. Ven was out of the dressing room and was once again by Lucy on the other side of the store, currently looking at hair clips.<p>

From what the boys could tell, Lucy was asking Ven which one looked best on her. Ven every once and a while opened his mouth, giving Lucy an answer to her questions and smiling at her.

As Lucy tried on several different clips, the boys couldn't help but think, _"That one looks pretty cute on her. Nah, not that one. That one goes with her eyes."_

Unlike Ven, the boys would kill to tell Lucy these things. _She would probably blush if they did, wouldn't she? Then she would give them that warm smile of hers, and laugh that sweet laugh, and….wait, what sort of things were they thinking?_

Subconsciously they shook their heads from side to side, trying to shack out those weird thoughts they were having.

"So how long do you plan on staying, creeper boy?" Kiyo finally snickered at Natsu.

"Knowing you'll be here watching Lucy's every move, I'll leave when you leave." Natsu answered darkly.

"Well that's too bad, cause I wont leave till you leave." Kiyo countered.  
>"Then this whole thing is pretty redundant." Natsu folded his arms.<p>

"You probably don't even know what redundant means." Kiyo folded his arms as well, smirking.

"I do know what it means. Lucy taught me it. She said it means when something is no longer needed or useful." Natsu proclaimed, feeling a lot of pride for his new learned knowledge.

Scowling, Kiyo shrugged. "So? Lucy taught me how to make soup and chicken, without burning her whole kitchen."

"That was a one time thing!" Natsu hissed lowly.

"Sure it was." Kiyo rolled his eyes.

Pausing, the boys looked back at Lucy and Ven, checking to see what was going on, then back to each other. They both froze, realizing what they just saw. Snapping back to the store, they saw Lucy extremely close to Ven.

"What is she doing?" they hissed in a panic, leaning closer to the glass.

Speaking of Lucy, she was busy putting a hair clip in Ven's unwilling hair.

"Lucy-neechan." He whined, blushing furiously.

"Come on Ven, just one." Lucy smiled, finishing her job. Stepping back, she examined her work. Ven stiffened when her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.  
>"W-What?" he stuttered nervously?<p>

"Ah, Ven!" Lucy cooed, jumping forward and bringing him into a hug. This did not calm the two dragon slayers jealous nerves. "You look so cute."

"Lucy-neechan!" Ven laughed, trying to escape Lucy's tight grip.

"Excuse me." Both paused to look to their left, where an elderly women who worked in the store was standing. "Are you two possible related? You must be siblings." The women smiled. "You see, there is a special family discount today. Bring your family and you get 10% off any purchase."

Slowly lowering her hands, Lucy looked towards Ven, who was a little shocked. "Siblings." She mumbled, grinning. She liked the sound of that. Having been an only child, it would be nice to have siblings.

As for Ven, he had always thought of Lucy as a sibling. So for others to think so too, it made him happy for some reason.

"Wait, did you say 10% off?" Lucy blinked.  
>"Yes." The women nodded.<p>

Lucy and Ven slowly looked at each other. After a short pause they smiled at each other. Wrapping his arms around Ven's shoulders, Lucy brought him into a one sided hug. "Little brother, huh?" she smiled.

Liking the sound of that, Ven grinned up at her. "Older sister, huh?" he mimicked her.

"Oh so you are, how sweet." The women chuckled, walking back to the counter to lets other customers know of the family discount. After that they left the store, Kiyo and Natsu following the two across town. Lucy showed Ven several of her favorite stores and bakeries. She even showed him where a small group of musicians met to play music for Magnolia.

The Dragon slayers had never felt more jealous when Lucy and Ven began to laugh and dance.

Maybe they were being too jealous though.

"Hey, I think we should leave." Natsu said slowly, leaning against his hand.

Kiyo wanted to disagree, but knew Natsu was right. "Fine." He sighed. "…You leave first."

"Again with this." Natsu hissed, glaring at him. "You leave first."

"You."

"You!"

"Together then! You go left, I'll go right." Kiyo growled.

"Fine by me squinty eyes." With that, the two went their separate ways, unwillingly leave Lucy with the young Ven. In all honesty, they felt like fools for following the two. Lucy had no feelings for Ven that involved what they were thinking, and Ven was took young, mentally, to understand what a relationship was anyway.

So everything was fine.

They still had time.

**So sorry for the long update! I apologize! I had finals and stuff, but now I'm done! :D** **Summer break! WAHOO!**


	11. Important announcement! Please read!

**Okay everyone! You all asked to see what Kiyo and Ven looked liked. Well, I have finished drawing Ven, but if you want to see a picture of Kiyo, just head to DeviantArt!**

**My username is kiyoxlucyxlaxusfans**

**Just type this name into the search button, and Kiyo will instantly pop up! :D  
><strong>

**And don't worry the new chapter will be out soon! :D  
><strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone. I'm so sorry for the long wait. I know I said in the last chapter I would update fast since it was my summer break. However, I'm afraid I've been having bad luck. I got very sick these past few weeks. I even had to be admitted into the hospital for a while. I finally made it home however and tried my very best to update. **

**I got terrible head aches whenever I tried to type though and constantly had to stop. Each day I could only write a few lines before I got a head ache. **

**I asked a good friend of mine named Amelia though to come over. She knows I've been having troubles and is a good writer. So I asked her to help me type this chapter. I told her what to write/recited the scenes, and she typed them down for me. **

**So it is all thanks to Amelia this chapter was able to finally come out! Thank you so much Amelia!**

**Amelia: Aww, any time hun. **

**So we finally move onto the chapter. Thank you all for waiting and I would like to thank you all for your reviews. **

**As for who Lucy will end up with. I'm not sure yet. After looking at all your reviews it is starting to become a tie. Half of you are for KiyoxLucy while the other half is for LucyxKiyo. So it is very hard to choose who should end up with her. **

**I also have a quick question. Some of you have asked if I could make another fanfic, completely based on KiyoxLucy. What do the rest of you think of that? **

**Anyway, to the chapter! :D**

"So, how about this one?" Lucy asked, tilting her head as the boys toured around the apartment room. After Kiyo's week of banishment had ended, he excitedly returned. However, Lucy's recent idea didn't make the boys very happy.

She thought it was about time they got their own place to live. They had enough money to buy a place now after all, so why wait any longer?

The boys on the other hand didn't really agree. They didn't want to admit it to Lucy, but they wanted to continue to live with Lucy.

They had become like a little family. They had breakfast together, dinner, had a game night on Fridays. They even invited Lucy's old team once to join them. The whole night was very fun.

Knowing those times were about to come to an end made the boys distressed.

"Yeah it's… it's great Lucy." Kiyo mumbled, half heartedly looking around the apartment. Lucy frowned, placing her hand on her hips.  
>"What's with you guys? Shouldn't you be glad to be getting your own house?"<p>

"Well… I guess." Ven shrugged, kicking his foot on the ground a bit.

Lucy sighed at the two. "Alright, this is the 6th apartment we've looked at today and I've got nothing from you guys. So lets just give it up for today. We can pick it up again tomorrow." With that Lucy left the room with Kiyo and Ven allowing the next tempted buyers into the room.

Ven and Kiyo glanced at each other as they all walked down the street. Both of them knew exactly what the other was thinking.  
><em>"We don't want to leave Lucy."<em>

They wouldn't exactly be leaving her though, would they? They would just be living in a different place then her. They would still be a team and hang out. They just wouldn't wake up and go to bed with her by their side. They wouldn't be able to see her warm smile before heading off to bed. Or wake up to her amazing cooking.

"How about we stop at the guild?" Lucy asked over her shoulder.

"Okay." The boys nodded.

Once the three entered the guild, they were welcomed by the over energetic cheers and laughter of its members.

"Luce!" Natsu grinned, instantly spotting her and running up.

"Hey Natsu." Lucy smiled back.

"So Lucy." Natsu put his arm over her shoulders, bringing her close. "Wanna go on a mission with Happy and me?" Natsu grinned.

Lucy blinked, surprised by the sudden question.

Kiyo's eyes widened in shock as well, but quickly changed into a glare. "She can't pinky. She's on our team, remember." Kiyo hissed, stepping in between them.  
>"I'm still her partner along with Happy." Natsu reminded him, smirking.<p>

"A person usually only has one partner." Kiyo said darkly.

"Oh that's fine then. I'll just go on a mission with just Lucy then. Just her and me." Natsu snickered.

Kiyo flinched, his voice livid. "Hell no."

"B-Boys." Lucy said nervously, stepping in between them. "Lets just calm down."

The boys paused, their anger momentarily dying down at the sight of Lucy.

"Geez." She sighed. "What's gotten into you two lately."

The boys wanted to scream. How could she… how could she not know?

The reason they were always fighting with one another. The reason they got so angry whenever the other was around her and they weren't.

They reason their hearts beat so fast, just by her sending a single smile towards them.

How could she not know, their feelings towards her?

And she called Natsu dim.

"I suppose since Kiyo is the water dragon slayer and Natsu is the fire dragon slayer you will always fight with one another. Like Gray and Natsu." Lucy grabbed her chin in though as she began to think aloud.

"That's most likely Lucy-neechan." Ven laughed, joining the conversation.  
>"Right?" Lucy laughed back at Ven.<p>

"Lu-chan!' Levy called.  
>"Levy-chan!" Lucy smiled running to her blue haired friend along with Ven.<p>

Natsu and Kiyo started after her, both frowning.  
>Why couldn't she notice?<p>

Perhaps it was their fault? They had both tried several times in the past 2 weeks to make their feelings clear. The small gestures, hugs, and smiles they gave her. Nothing worked though.

Both let out an exhausted sigh. Realizing they sighed at the same time they glared at one another.

"What was with that sigh?" Natsu questioned.

"I could ask you the same thing." Kiyo grumbled.  
>"Kiyo, Natsu! Stop arguing with each other and get over here!" Lucy called.<br>"What, fighting?" Erza demanded, rising to her seat.  
>"N-No! Of course not Erza! We're… buds, right?" Natsu laughed, looking at Kiyo nervously.<p>

Kiyo, seeing Erza's death look, began to laugh nervously along with Natsu. "T-That's right. Buds!" he grinned weakly.

"Oh I see. That's good. Friends are very important." Erza smiled, folding her arms to sink back down into her chair.  
>"Wah, Erza-senpai is scary." Ven whispered to Lucy.<br>"Got that right." Gray, who had heard Ven's whisper, nodded.

"So Kiyo, Ven, I heard you two are trying to find a new place to live." Levy smiled at them. Both of them slowly frowned at the thought.

Natsu on the other hand perked up. "Oh? So you're finally leaving?' Natsu smirked at Kiyo. Kiyo growled at him.

"We're trying to find them a place to live. The don't seem to like any of the places I show them." Lucy sighed.

Mirajane chuckled at them. "I'm sure they'll find a place they like eventually."

"_We already found a place we like." _Ven and Kiyo thought, folding their arms.

"Yeah I guess." Lucy smiled weakly. "At the moment though, is there anything going on with you all?"

Levy thought for a moment. "Nothing particularly new with me." She shrugged.  
>"Same here." Erza and Mirajane said together.<p>

"I painted my room." Lisanna cheered.  
>"Oh? What color?" Lucy smiled.<br>"Ugh, girl talk." Gray, Natsu and Kiyo scowled.

Ven just laughed.

"A light blue." Lisanna smiled.  
>"Eh? Those will go so nicely with those white curtains you made." Lucy nodded.<p>

"That's what Mira-nee thought too." Lisanna laughed. She paused to stare at Lucy's smiling face. After all that had happened, she thought Lucy would be mad at her. After all, she basically came back and stole everyone from her. It wasn't fair to Lucy. Yet Lucy didn't seem to think about that at all now.

They had even begun to hang out! They were becoming close friends. It made Lisanna relieved that someone like Lucy had joined Fairy Tail.

"I got some fish!" Happy cheered.

"Figured as much." Lucy laughed.

"Man!" Elfman suddenly yelled from the other side of the room.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Natsu? Gray?"

Gray thought for a moment. "I'm going on a solo mission tomorrow. Need some extra cash." Gray announced,

Natsu looked smugly at Kiyo. "Speaking of missions. Lucy, as I said before, wanna go on a mission with me?"

Lucy blinked. "Oh… um." Lucy thought for a moment. "Just you, Happy and me?" she asked.

"Yeah, just like old times!" Natsu grinned.

Lucy smiled at the thought. It had been forever since just the three of them had gone on a mission. It wouldn't be too bad to go on a mission with just them.

As Lucy thought the offer over, Ven had been forced to grab Kiyo's arm to hold him back from pouncing on Natsu.

Levy and Lisanna instantly noticed this and glanced at each other. Unlike their blond friend, they had begun to realize what sort of feelings Natsu and Kiyo had for Lucy.

"I guess it would be fun. Sure! That is…" Lucy paused to look at Ven and Kiyo, who froze. "If that's okay with you two." She smiled.

Both flinched. How could they say no when she smiled like that?

"I-It's fine with me." Ven smiled. In all honestly, he was a little hesitant. Lucy-neechan would be going of with just Natsu and Happy. Two of the very people who had hurt her so badly before. Granted, after Ven got to know Natsu and Happy they turned out to be very funny and cool people. Natsu reminded Ven of Kiyo and Happy in a way like himself. So he could trust them to get Lucy back home safely, right?

Kiyo on the other hand didn't want to answer. He couldn't say no to Lucy when she looked at him with those big round eyes.

To leave her alone with that pink headed idiot though… It wasn't acceptable! So what could he do?

"…" Kiyo glanced at Lucy again. "Y….Yeah. It's fine." He finally sighed.

Lucy's eyes beamed. "Alright! Okay Natsu, Happy, what sort of mission should we go on?" she grinned, tilting her head. Natsu and Happy grinned back.

"Lets go see what sort of jobs there are." They said, running to the request board, Lucy right behind them.

When the three left the group, the girls couldn't help but look towards Kiyo in worry.

Almost everyone in the guild had begun to see how Kiyo and Natsu felt about Lucy. They always couldn't help but feel bad for them when Lucy didn't notice their feelings.

Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't notice though. Everyone could tell that Lucy cared for Kiyo and Natsu a lot. But was it the same type of love that Natsu and Kiyo felt?

If she were to discover their feelings without knowing which boy to choose, would it ruin her friendship with the other? Knowing how Lucy was when it comes to relationships they knew she would have a tough time trying to decide which boy to be with.

Perhaps it would be best for Lucy to come to know her own feelings first, before either of the boys made their feelings known.

To have two boys after the same girl, it could possible be Fairy Tail's most dramatic romance!

The girls couldn't help but watch their relationships blossom with glee. The boys on the other hand weren't as excited. They were only excited for those small fights and quarrels the two possible had. Now that was something to watch!

Ven even knew what was going on before anyone else did! He could see how Kiyo-niisan looked at Lucy-neechan. It was almost impossible to miss. Then when he met Natsu-senpai, he saw the exact same look.

He knew that Lucy-neechan was going to have trouble picking between them.

However, there was something Ven knew, that no one else did.

If by chance Lucy were to choose Natsu-senpai, instead of Kiyo-niisan, he knew how Kiyo-niisan would react.

He knew exactly what is older brother would do.

Kiyo would let her go. He would let her be with the one she loves, no matter how deep his feelings were for her. And Ven was sure Natsu would do the same.

Either way, one of them was going to get hurt. The only question was, which one would it be?

**Okay guys. Now that I have Amelia by my side to help me, the next chapter won't take as long to get out. :D**

**This I swear! On my life I swear!**

**So it's time for some NaLu! I've given you all a lot of KiyoxLucy moments in the last chapters, but now it's time for some NaLu in the next chapter. That way you guys can get a lot of fluff from both couples and try to decide which couple you like best that way. Thank you all! **


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